I'd like to think that people attribute a method to our madness. Rather than ascribe the practice to a bizarre quirk of Viserys, turtles are starting to become synonymous with demon slaying. Researchers at the Scholarum are conducting studies into to particular stability of turtles as a polymorphed creature. Sailors out of Imperial ports consider turtles a sign of good fortune and safe passage. A few more eccentric craftsmen and blacksmiths have begun studying the structure of turtle shells to improve their craft.
A Sword Without a Hilt: A Song of Ice and Fire/D&D 3.5 Crossover
- Thread starter DragonParadox
- Start date
-
- Tags
- a song of ice and fire a sword without a hilt d&d 3.5 dungeons & dragons 100% high octane dragon fuel ave corvidae battle action dragon diplomacy best sister bureaucromancy delicious soul-stuff dragon dreams come true dragon ta'veren greatest uncle hubris is a coward's word in defiance of gods and men mammon's folly mutually assured mage's disjunction qm murderhobo top tier coatl
- Location
- United Kingdom
Viserys: "A-ah yes. I totally meant for all that to happen when I chose that form. Yes definitely, all according to my grand design. Carry on".
egoo
Totally Not Creating Problems Where None Existed
- Location
- Russia
Still one of the best scenes in this piece of fiction.
- Location
- France
Bloodraven is super influential in KL right now, so... What you're really asking is "does he find it funny to get everyone talking about Bloodraven while he's standing right there, or not?"
More seriously, most people don't think of Bloodraven when they start talking about masterminds. He's been dead and gone for ages, now. And his biggest mastermind exploits will always be hidden from all...
Crake
I AM THE STORM THAT IS APPROACHING
- Location
- USA
Yeah I guess, but people don't talk about Varys outside of King's Landing either, really, his whole thing is to "boring functionary who's leeching off the realm, too important to get rid of, and also no one would do his job better by virtue of being upstanding nobles rather than conniving effeminate toadies with contacts everywhere".
So if you want evil mastermind, it's either Bloodraven, who actually did develop that reputation while holding the Master of Whispers title, or Viserys Targaryen, who is the local BBEG.
Winning vote
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Part MMMCLXXXIX: Ill Fortune's Gambit
Ill Fortune's Gambit
Twenty First Day of the Eleventh Month 293 AC
There is a very particular sort of fear that comes with understanding, you have seen it time and again in the eyes of those facing fiends and monsters, the otherworldly fey and the unhallowed dead, or even the light of an angel's gaze. Even after more than four years you still remember what it was like for you that first time looking at the fiend of crackling flame and if you live to your five thousandth year you do not think you will forget. Knowing this you could have shielded Lord Lolliston from the worst of the blow, you could have handed him a book to read, you could have shown him Sorcerer's Deep before having to confront the physical reality of a fiend. You do none of that because you remember another fear also, the fear of children under the hangman's noose.
Still, though you do not soften the blow you answer all his questions one by one and somewhere in the midst of those many, many answers he gives you one of his own. House Loliston will stand with you against the Baratheons, so long as you stand with them against the deeper evils of the world. You take his pledge, of course, already considering how the needs of his House and its people might be met, but for now you turn to face the Famine Fiend and learn from it how it had come to be here in the Riverlands, and of what other plots and horrors it might know.
The news is thankfully as good as any one might pick from the mind of a daemon, Limaes does not know of any other Daemons, indeed she does not know of any other fiends abroad in the world besides the ones you had already captured, nor any secrets nor treasures fair or foul. As for how she had come to Oakbarrel it appears daemons are as inclined to plot and intrigue against their fellows as demons and devils for in the midst of a cult of death the Servants of Famine gathered, knowing and unknowing alike in a strange reversal of the calamities they represent.
Further, the means by which the influence of the Horseman of Famine escaped Tyrosh was ingenious certainly, but also fragile. Talismans like the ones you had seen around the necks of those now languishing in Lord Luthor's dungeon, not true magic that would call the diviner's attention, but tokens with an affinity for the Powers of Abandon. Enough to reach the dreams of mortals, enough to tempt those already haunted by misfortune to sow the seeds of yet more misery. Devils scheme and demons sunder, but it seems daemons are content to slowly gnaw at the souls of men, bidding their time until chance should deliver onto them a vessel for their plans. Such a vessel was Roderick the Scarred, the mage whom the Golden Shields did indeed face and slay, though not before he had the chance to summon the sorcerer daemon who in turn called out to the greater Famine Fiend before you.
So at last you come to the purpose of the curse and its nature. Having realized it lacked the strength to face any of the more powerful sorcerers of the land the maledaemon masquerading as a stranger with skill as a healer concocted a subtler plan, to craft a layered complex ritual of self-perpetuating drought and then to test it upon the Lolliston lands. Somewhat to your surprise the daemon understood the implications of the fertility rituals that were growing ever more prevalent in the Seven Kingdoms, she knew that the price of grain would plummet to the point of being near worthless.
Let them burn their granaries in rage, then the drought will come. A few rumors that it had been the arcane rituals responsible for the cursed weather and thousands perhaps, tens of thousands would die, not all to starvation of course but Limaes was a practical sort of monster.
By the end of the account Lord Luthor is white as a sheet, fear of fiends and the unknown subsumed in the more comprehensible terror of mass revolt. "Your Grace, what is there to do?"
"Thankfully the Maledaemon herself is the center of her ritual, with her on hand it should be posibile to shatter it." you reply briefly, considering if it would be worth your time to extract the ritual lore from the fiend's mind.
If you want a house you build a house, you don't start with a burrow in the nearest dung heap, Varys offers, almost making you smile ruefully at her point. More than likely it would take more time to remove the influence of the daemons from any ritual lore than it would take to build an equivalent conceptual structure from the ground up.
It seems this particular cabal of fiends has left you with nothing but a few more sacrifices to offer the Old Gods or Yss, though on the other hand at least it could be tied off with some confidence if you can deal with the rest of the jackal-headed amulets.
What do you do with the maledaemon and the last of the problems facing House Loliston?
Daemon
[] Sacrifice her before Lord Luther's Heart Tree to empower it
[] Keep her for now and try to break the curse by using miracle
[] Write in
Grain Thieves
[] Try to convince Lord Luther not to kill the children, but allow the rest to the hanged
[] All of them were to an extent under the influence of the curse that touched much more than the weather, seek clemency and ensure that any 'good luck charms' are destroyed
[] Write in
Grain Trade
[] Bid the loyalist lords to trade with House Lolliston
[] Try to arrange an indirect trade in the east
[] Write in
OOC: These fiends were not really in your weight class, so having them spin off to who knows how many clean-up operations just did not seem fun to me.
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egoo
Totally Not Creating Problems Where None Existed
- Location
- Russia
[] Attempt to use the Daemons as a sort of a "beacon" to any remaining talismans empowered by powers of Abandon (using the Staff of Ages if necessary)- having the Maledaemon's ritual broken with a Miracle afterwards.
@DragonParadox, would the above work?
Just getting a general "map" made via the Daemons full of same sort of energy, and having loyal men/teleporting Devils/low-level minions hunt down every amulet later?
@DragonParadox, would the above work?
Just getting a general "map" made via the Daemons full of same sort of energy, and having loyal men/teleporting Devils/low-level minions hunt down every amulet later?
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The staff of ages is too limited for that, it curses people, not uses people to find items. That said you could just as Yss or Zathir for the boon. Yss is sleeping right now but Zathir is willing and able to help.
Goldfish
Friendly Spider-Fish Abomination
- Location
- Formerly of the Far Realm
Here's an edited version of the chapter, DP.
egoo
Totally Not Creating Problems Where None Existed
- Location
- Russia
Okay then,
[X] Ask Zathir for help with finding and possibly destroying all the remaining tokens of Abandon's power.
-[X] Using the House of Mirrors, the Daemons captured, remains of the "lucky charms" and a bit of his newfound power, a reliable "map" of sorts could be made to all those unlucky enough to having found one such talisman in their posession.
-[X] The bearers of such will be found and managed a bit later, if simply destroying the talismans in a single chain reaction isn't possible.
-[X] Afterwards, break the ritual set up by Maledaemon with a Miracle.
All the other points...
Eh, I have about zero idea. And don't really care particularly much for the resoultion of either.
@Crake, ball's in yer court now.
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Are these three separate votes? I only feel particularly strongly about the second.
Vote changed.
Vote changed.
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Probably best to vote by plan, there is some influence across all three of them.
In that case I think asking Zathir like @egoo suggested, seeking clemency, and arranging indirect trade from the East would be a good collective approach. Anyone one of those approaches potentially marks Lollinston as a loyalist if someone important digs too deeply, so we might as well go all in.
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egoo
Totally Not Creating Problems Where None Existed
- Location
- Russia
[X] Plan "Snek, Curses and Grain, Oh My".
[X] Ask Zathir for help with finding and possibly destroying all the remaining tokens of Abandon's power.
-[X] Using the House of Mirrors, the Daemons captured, remains of the "lucky charms" and a bit of his newfound power, a reliable "map" of sorts could be made to all those unlucky enough to having found one such talisman in their posession.
-[X] The bearers of such will be found and managed a bit later, if simply destroying the talismans in a single chain reaction isn't possible.
-[X] Afterwards, break the ritual set up by Maledaemon with a Miracle.
[X] All of them were to an extent under the influence of the curse that touched much more than the weather, seek clemency though ensuring that any 'good luck charms' are destroyed
-[X] "Where doubt and fiendish works mingle, I find that the surest course of action is to undermine whatever ends they had sought to achieve.
-[X] Gift Lord Lolliston a book of law along with the other information we give our newly sworn lords.
--[X] "Even in a world newly woken to horrors such as you've seen today, we may build stability and order. Hopefully this can give perspective on the type of society that can thrive in spite of our enemies' best efforts."
[X] Try to arrange an indirect trade in the east
Feel free to cannibalize the vote ya'll, imma sleep now.
[X] Ask Zathir for help with finding and possibly destroying all the remaining tokens of Abandon's power.
-[X] Using the House of Mirrors, the Daemons captured, remains of the "lucky charms" and a bit of his newfound power, a reliable "map" of sorts could be made to all those unlucky enough to having found one such talisman in their posession.
-[X] The bearers of such will be found and managed a bit later, if simply destroying the talismans in a single chain reaction isn't possible.
-[X] Afterwards, break the ritual set up by Maledaemon with a Miracle.
[X] All of them were to an extent under the influence of the curse that touched much more than the weather, seek clemency though ensuring that any 'good luck charms' are destroyed
-[X] "Where doubt and fiendish works mingle, I find that the surest course of action is to undermine whatever ends they had sought to achieve.
-[X] Gift Lord Lolliston a book of law along with the other information we give our newly sworn lords.
--[X] "Even in a world newly woken to horrors such as you've seen today, we may build stability and order. Hopefully this can give perspective on the type of society that can thrive in spite of our enemies' best efforts."
[X] Try to arrange an indirect trade in the east
Feel free to cannibalize the vote ya'll, imma sleep now.
Crake
I AM THE STORM THAT IS APPROACHING
- Location
- USA
[X] Ask Zathir for help with finding and possibly destroying all the remaining tokens of Abandon's power.
-[X] Using the House of Mirrors, the Daemons captured, remains of the "lucky charms" and a bit of his newfound power, a reliable "map" of sorts could be made to all those unlucky enough to having found one such talisman in their posession.
-[X] The bearers of such will be found and managed a bit later, if simply destroying the talismans in a single chain reaction isn't possible.
-[X] Afterwards, break the ritual set up by Maledaemon with a Miracle.
[X] 2) Offer all of them clemency. The point of all this is for Lord Lolliston to take a more direct stake in the well being of his people, if not from any goodness of his own heart then common sense developed in a world where fiends and worse are a genuine concern. Try to give him some advice and tell him of your experiences with cults and how you've countered them extremely well by being very fastidious in taking care of those under your rule, and this actually pays back dividends since people have bolstered the economy and been more loyal workers.
[X] 3) Have all of the Loyalist Lords in the Riverlands sell some grain. If anyone calls foul, he'll have over two thirds of the Riverlands telling the interloper outsider to fuck off for it is an affair of the Riverlands and they are merely circling their wagons, so they should mind their own affairs. Simple as that. Hoster Tully can't afford to contradict this narrative, either, as it would show him as truly spineless and weak.
-[X] Have Lord Lolliston go out of his way to meet with several different Riverlander Lords and have rumors of him taking the matter of the borderline famine into hand by dealing for the grain with those with the sense to realize chaos in his land can spell chaos for the Riverlands.
-[X] Using the House of Mirrors, the Daemons captured, remains of the "lucky charms" and a bit of his newfound power, a reliable "map" of sorts could be made to all those unlucky enough to having found one such talisman in their posession.
-[X] The bearers of such will be found and managed a bit later, if simply destroying the talismans in a single chain reaction isn't possible.
-[X] Afterwards, break the ritual set up by Maledaemon with a Miracle.
[X] 2) Offer all of them clemency. The point of all this is for Lord Lolliston to take a more direct stake in the well being of his people, if not from any goodness of his own heart then common sense developed in a world where fiends and worse are a genuine concern. Try to give him some advice and tell him of your experiences with cults and how you've countered them extremely well by being very fastidious in taking care of those under your rule, and this actually pays back dividends since people have bolstered the economy and been more loyal workers.
[X] 3) Have all of the Loyalist Lords in the Riverlands sell some grain. If anyone calls foul, he'll have over two thirds of the Riverlands telling the interloper outsider to fuck off for it is an affair of the Riverlands and they are merely circling their wagons, so they should mind their own affairs. Simple as that. Hoster Tully can't afford to contradict this narrative, either, as it would show him as truly spineless and weak.
-[X] Have Lord Lolliston go out of his way to meet with several different Riverlander Lords and have rumors of him taking the matter of the borderline famine into hand by dealing for the grain with those with the sense to realize chaos in his land can spell chaos for the Riverlands.
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egoo
Totally Not Creating Problems Where None Existed
- Location
- Russia
@Interregnum, note, I'm changing away from the vote and tally may get borked, so if you prefer the "plan" I threw together you may want to quote it fully.
[X] Crake
Nighty-night all, and back to boring Westeros we go.
[X] Crake
Nighty-night all, and back to boring Westeros we go.
enigma1995
Gentleman Beholder
[X] Crake
- Location
- France
I'm so sick of leaning on Gods for literally everything. Ugh.
[X] Sacrifice her before Lord Luther's Heart Tree to empower it
[X] All of them were to an extent under the influence of the curse that touched much more than the weather, seek clemency though ensuring that any 'good luck charms' are destroyed
[X] Bid the loyalist lords to trade with House Lolliston
[X] Sacrifice her before Lord Luther's Heart Tree to empower it
[X] All of them were to an extent under the influence of the curse that touched much more than the weather, seek clemency though ensuring that any 'good luck charms' are destroyed
[X] Bid the loyalist lords to trade with House Lolliston
It's worth bearing in mind that Zathir did just promise you guys a boon for helping him ascend so it's not like it would be out of the blue.
[X] Crake