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

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DragonParadox said:
The seeds of rebellion you have sown in the sea of fire seem to be catching surprising root however. Whether though some slip of the eye of the Great Sultan or the covert actions of Shaitan or Djinn agents many of the Salamander Realms that hard remained loyal to the Brazen throne erupt in fresh rebellion, not enough to make any of them defect, but sufficient to deal the local Efreeti Commander, Bey Hakim Three Eyes a stinging defeat while the Princedoms in rebellion continue to rally into what is increasingly more than an alliance of convenience. Where before the Battle at Ember Sound they had been fighting to throw off the yoke of Efreeti rule, now they fight for plunder.
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Their GREED is unshackled. They will never be chained again. Though for their sakes I hope most of their loot isn't Living Brass. That would be unfortunate.
DragonParadox said:
Of more immediate interest is the war of raids and feints that swirls between the Skyholds and the Brazen throne. Djinn captains appear to be doing the most damage in a series of lightning quick opportunistic raids mostly focused on freeing and rescuing slaves, but Efreeti captains under the command of the Dervish Lord Kharabi have focused on targets of immediate military use, particularly here it comes to trade in materiel between the two allied empires.
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Hmmm... @DragonParadox, what is Dervish Lord Kharabi, mechanically speaking? With a commander as infamous as this one his abilities and skills should be quite well known.

[X] Recieve the report on what happened to Hardhome and what was causing Bloodraven's birds to malfunction.
 
Hm.
So the war is mostly a stalemate for now.

Not great, with Efreeti calling on Devils for support, we'd need even more forces actively fighting the war to keep the advantage.

Still, both sides seem to prepare for big pushes, and that means that we can be more-or-less assured of no big raid on Plane Material incoming just yet.
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We can start chipping away at strategic locations for the War in the 1st month, @everyone.

Supporting Shaitan in breaking through in Div-place, hunting down the Dervish Commander, and dealing with that Lich-Salamander seems best pick to me out of existing options so far.
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I wonder if we'd better hold off on including Marid into the war, once we diplomance them that is, for until Efreeti call upon the Devils - countering them to some degree.
 
So the Radiant Shield upgrade for the Moonchaser. The Etrophic shield statue thing I found for all ships and invisibility effect for the Wyverns. That the full list of upgrades we have planned for ships next month? Well thos and some illusion protection for the pilots.

Also for the Symbiote thing. Psychic Ward would work best. The goggles have a lower will save than the pilot.
 
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Duesal said:
Their GREED is unshackled. They will never be chained again. Though for their sakes I hope most of their loot isn't Living Brass. That would be unfortunate.
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We should offer to buy any Living Brass they have, then have some of our people spend it in the Bazaar, that way we minimize the impact on our allies, and maximize the impact on our enemies.
 
We don't have much time to break the stalemate - when Winter's on us, we 'll have our hands full on Prime Material.
 
The goal is to disrupt the Efreeti economy so much with our ritual, that it leads to internal strife and the Last Alliance of Elves and Man Shaitan and Djinn can press the advantage home enough to bring Brass Ballsack to the field and someone can claim his head.

That someone probably being us since... y'know. Narrative.
 
Crake said:
The goal is to disrupt the Efreeti economy so much with our ritual, that it leads to internal strife and the Last Alliance of Elves and Man Shaitan and Djinn can press the advantage home enough to bring Brass Ballsack to the field and someone can claim his head.

That someone probably being us since... y'know. Narrative.
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That and loot. We're not missing out on our third of the spoils.
 
And on that note, updates to List of Adventure Actions done.
egoo said:
Other Planes
[] The Rot of Stone, on paths of Trade: Clear out the infestation of Rotstone near the Xorn trade route.
(Opposition: ??, Aberrations; Rewards: ??).

[] Into the Depths: The darker the depths, the harder the pressure... and stranger the secrets hiding beneath. Lurking in the deepest parts of Plane of Water, many wondrous and terrifying things can be found - but neither is it an easy search, for some of those places have never known light, and few things are safe when capable enduring pressures as high.
(Opposition: ??; Rewards: ??)

[] In Oil and Smoke, Divinity's Carcass: The "Sundered" Divine forge, reported to us by Hadhayosh as the place of his birth, can be of significant strategic use, even if all one can recover are mere scraps of lore. Had only it not been lost to tumultuous and chaotic edges of Plane of Fire... Find the Forge, loot as much as possible.
(Opposition: ??; Rewards: ??)

[] A Hateful Eye: Go into the Plane of Earth, to take out Thrasyr, The Hateful Eye. His slights against Shaitan and Efreeti alike had made him no friends, but more importantly, he holds many a treasure beyond mere riches – his knowledge on Undeath may prove to be extremely useful against many dangers Garden faces these days.
(Opposition: Very Old Hex Dragon (CR 19), Rewards: ??)

Efreeti War
[] A Fire, on Fire turned: Aid the rebel Salamander Kingdoms by striking at their rivals
-[] Update: Whether though some slip of the eye of the Great Sultan or the covert actions of Shaitan or Djinn agents many of the Salamander Realms that hard remained loyal to the Brazen throne erupt in fresh rebellion, not enough to make any of them defect, but sufficient to deal the local Efreeti Commander, Bey Hakim Three Eyes a stinging defeat while the Princedoms in rebellion continue to rally into what is increasingly more than an alliance of convenience. Where before the Battle at Ember Sound they had been fighting to throw off the yoke of Efreeti rule, now they fight for plunder.
(Opposition: ??; Rewards: ??)

[] The Enmity Undying: Negotiate with the Lich King Salamander and potentially turn him against the Brazen Throne.
(Opposition: ??; Rewards: ??).

[] Changing the Battlefields, One at a Time: take a personal part in the war against Efreeti - hopefully breaking stalemates beyond mortal memory.
-[] The Ashen Cysts: Said to be the colony of some lost Formian realm the Cysts tower above the shores of the Sea of Fire like a trio of oddly pyramidal mountains. They lie atop valuable deposits of iron, copper, and other base metals. The vast fortresses that have sprung up upon the slopes also provide a deep pool of Azer slaves known as 'the Pale Ones' as they are raised in total darkness before they see the light of the auction block.
Status: Partial Shaitan encirclement. The network of old formian tunnels has proven hard to cut off even when the Shaitan otherwise closed the gap. Shaitan employ earth-ships in order to try and break through.
--[] Update: The Ashen Cysts remain a bloody quagmire with the Shaitan not quite able to tighten the noose or incite rebellion among the 'Pale Ones', leaving only the slow grinding advance of dozens of 'Xorn-Spirals' to eat away at the Efreeti fortresses one by one.

-[] Div's Delight: Once these caverns at the edge of the Plane of Fire were a place of great, if stark and unforgiving, beauty but centuries of attrition to claim the easy passages between the realms has made them into a haunted wasteland, most beloved of the wretched div who hunt the warriors of both sides to add to their ranks.
Status: Centuries-old stalemate.
--[] Update: Div's Delight endures in its age-old stalemate, though there have been more Shaitan losses than usual. You suspect the urgency in wishing to capture that damned place has to do with the revaluation of the Efreeti's willingness to create divs in their war, but so far there is no intelligence report on that front.

[] The Throne's lifeline: The Adamantine Mine, though but one of many sources for Brazen Throne, is a critical strategic location for the war. Take it and hold with Shaitan/Djinn forces providing guard, or make it inaccessible for a long time in some way.
(Opposition: ??; Rewards: ??, Adamantine)
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Quick question, not advocating for it. But if we dropped all Moonchaser and other construct creation and just churned our Wyverns. How many could we make a month? Just asking to get an idea of our crafting capacity.
 
Crake said:
The goal is to disrupt the Efreeti economy so much with our ritual, that it leads to internal strife and the Last Alliance of Elves and Man Shaitan and Djinn can press the advantage home enough to bring Brass Ballsack to the field and someone can claim his head.

That someone probably being us since... y'know. Narrative.
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The Shaitan Sultana has a better narritive though.

Unfortunatly her Mythic Power seems somehow tied to location though, so maybe we'd have to trick the Brassman into a daring strike against an "underdefended" Opaline Vault.
 
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Interlude DCLXIV: Upon Stranger Paths
  • Threadmarks
    • Upon Stranger Paths ​

    Seventeenth Day of the Eleventh Month 293 AC

    The Coils, Beneath City of Brass

    Where her two mortal companions walked down the tunnels with muscles coiled against sudden ambush and eyes wide for any foes that might assail them, even the glib mercenary scarce speaking a word, Sarell welcomed the place, the prospect of battle hidden from the eyes of the city above. Anything was better than having to pay lip service to the grotesque travesty of law the Brazen Throne played out in the souks and markets.

    As though to test her resolve, light flared in a crevice above and some sort of being from that crevice scuttled like a many jointed spider with crude runes burned into its shell bright as forge-fire. Jagged mandibles cut at Sarell's wing, poison sizzling upon the flesh as it was cleansed by the touch of her blood. From the soft scratching ahead and behind them two or more spiders had landed ahead and behind them. "Behind," she sent to the sellsword. After a moment adding. "Watch for poison."

    Blood red fire licked at the stones, shadows coiled and strangled as the stink of Abyssal magic filled the air, but still the enemy came on. The spiders were stronger than even their prodigious size allowed and their shells harder than steel, but blades of adamantine and true silver cleaved them well and they fought with frenzied desperation, not guile as even a bebilith would have the wit to do. From amid the chittering noise something that might perhaps be called speech emerged, "Give... to her... us... us.. her... to... Give her to us." A flash of 'Fleasticker's' silver blade made an end of the last beast as the last word still hung in the air.

    "Don't use the belts, I've got healing scrolls," the boy Maelor said, catching his breath from his last spell.

    "What the fuck were those things?" Bronn asked, blunt as ever.

    "Shapeshifters," Sarell replied, motioning to the ground where the various twitching spider appendages had become severed human limbs wrapped in bloody rags. Picking up one of the unburned heads by the hair she studied the dead eyes carefully. The expression in them was one of horror, more than pain or the fear of death, this man could not abide failing. Head still in hand she turned to the girl, Ashia. "Why precisely where these looking for you?"

    "I... I don't know what you mean? I just...." she stuttered. "There are all sorts of monsters down here. Maybe they're working for the Shaper."

    "Not smart lying to her, really not smart," the demon-kin said feigning sympathy, or for all Sarell knew actually feeling it. It worked as well either way. "Come on, just tell us everything we are getting into here. I know you didn't tell us any actual lies back in the shop, no reason to start now. What was your master doing down here? Why are you so keen to find him again?"

    "Master was trading," she admitted at last, glancing around at the dead as though afraid one of them would spring back to life to contradict her. "Trading with the folk that live under the sky... thems I was born to." Her voice echoed strangely down the corridors and from those echoes something else emerged.

    "Come see... come play... don't be shy... don't hide from me... I'll stroke your hair and kiss your hurts away, I'll tear your lying heart out and kiss it well..." Like metal grating on stone, like the hiss of a dying campfire, and yet beneath it all a familiar timbre.

    "It can't be... no no... it can't be. She's dead... She reached too far, too much. I saw her burn. " the girl said hugging herself tight.

    "Who did you see burn?" Maelor asked, caught between the discussion and looking farther down the corridor.

    "I'll keep watch, you handle the girl," Sarell assured him silently.

    "My sister," Ashia finally said.

    "Well come on then, best we find her first," Bronn said, wiping his bloody sword off one of the rags the shapeshifters wore.

    OOC: Sarell did not identify the shapeshifters but since they took the bodies, you guys will be able to. They were were-spiders with some kind of light or fire based enhancement.
     
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    • Crake said:
    On the one hand these bodies are probably tormented bio-experimental weapons, courtesy a mad Efreeti mage, but well, they're not using them anymore...
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    Eh, what isnt in the City of Brass. They're dead, they were enemies, they were evil. That's a combo no group here has compunctions against looting.

    Who knows the city might have Wererats and Werebats too. Heck they spend long enough in the sewers they might even spot a gator.
     
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    Well, "Evil" or just enchanted/brainwashed wretches.

    Standard definitions have some flex. Probably wouldn't have spilled tears over eating Maelor and crew.
     
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