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

Twenty Sixth Day of the Eleventh Month 293 AC

It's been a long time since you had to worry about the price of any work of alchemy or enchantment that can be bought with gold, and thankfully these can be, if not directly. The work of genie enchanters and a judicious trade can see the Faceless Men content in the possession of even more deadly tools by which to practice their fel trade, while you take the cloak, the dagger, and the cup. Old workings and strong in the magic of this world, not the sort of thing one can find in a merchant's stall even within the Endless Depths or the Endless Sky.

Additionally, your gaze had fallen to spell-sealed vials of viscous liquid that seems to twists and coil almost as though alive, poison to slay even the living dead. You are somewhat familiar with the notion from Wyla's efforts, but this is the work of a master compared to that of one who has only dabbled in the craft. It is also a skill the House of Black and White has not managed to retain through the passing of the centuries. Four vials you take, more than a third of what remains, with a promise to bring those secrets to life once more.


Fortunately, not all such skill is lost, and the lore you receive from the order in tightly wrapped scrolls is all you could have hoped for; alchemy, poison-crafting, philosophy, spellcraft, meditation techniques, and even things as comparatively simple as the mundane art of disguise, would doubtlessly be of great use to the Inquisition. Although much of it will not bear fruit for months, perhaps even years or decades as new mages are trained in these skills, the alchemical craft will doubtlessly see use as soon as a Scholarum-trained alchemist lays eyes on the formulas. The ointment of unlight alone could save who knows how many lives by allowing agents to move in darkness rather than announcing their presence with a torch or mage-light.


Of course, the exchange is not all one way, for not only do members of the order skilled in magic become full members of the Scholarum and gain access to the library in Sorcerer's Deep without having to test the vigilance of its erinyes guards, you also grant them copies of several books that are most certainly not commonly available; Rina's account of the Others and their powers and Wyla's testimonials of undeath, together with the books of Lengi meditation techniques that they will doubtlessly find as useful as members of the Inquisition do.

Before you can depart, however, there is one more legal conundrum to solve. By the nature of their worship to the Many Faced God, the priests and acolytes of the House of Black and White technically worship several proscribed powers such as the Moon-Pale-Maiden, a fact which is as obvious as the idols standing beside the pool of poison water. While you both understand the necessity and applaud the skill by which they have walked the razor's edge for so long, the full truth of the matter can hardly be made public, but some kind of modification is going to have to be made before some Braavosi Lawman's zeal finally overcomes his or her dread of angering the Faceless Men, leading to a very uncomfortable report.

Dany suggests removing the troubling idols, unfortunately that cannot be done without harming the ancient magics that stand at the foundation of the order. Here, and here alone, they are aspects of the Many Faced God and to remove them harms Him, weakens the warp and weft that the Faceless have so long guarded.

How do you explain the Faceless worshiping proscribed powers?

[] Explain that they are not truly offering service to the dark powers, but keeping the otherwise dangerous altars in check by divine magic, as close to the truth as you dare come

[] Make it public that the idols of proscribed powers are not truly meaningful since the Faceless worship another god, they are simply held there as testaments of the order's history without any special power

[] Write in

OOC: The Faceless are willing to lie about the idols to a point like the above mentioned 'they have no power' line, but they will not pretend they belong to a different god, since that would be blasphemy and damage the Many Faced God every bit as much as taking a sledgehammer to them.

egoo said:

[X] Make sure to take some time to look over the marriage law and the inheritance-related laws of the Emperium.

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Needs a vote

egoo said:

[X] Do acts necessary to gain the help of the remaining deities you planned to use against Tiamat (6 7 total, Yss already contributed):
-[X] Old Gods

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Needs a vote to handle all the sacrifices

egoo said:

[X] Have a personal meeting with the Chosen of Smith.
-[X] Extensively divine irregular points of interest about him and his works - just in case, since one favored by Smith can prepare far more of a trap than a regular cleric.
--[X] Check his supply routes, from where he gets the materials for enchanting - and the people he interacts with along the way, including those he gives the items to, and who gave him the order of Dragon-slaying weaponry. Such spell as Hindsight may come especially in handy if he interacted with someone protected by Mindblank, giving us at least a clue to investigate.
--[X] With Chosen of Crone having been helping him, also try to affect the same general points about her and сompany she keeps.
---[X] Learn the interests and priorities of Chosen of Crone, the people they keep company with - a usual thorough investigation in search of clues for a possible trap.
-[X] If no suspicious activity is detected via divination, meet with him - the focus of the meeting is to set up at least mild relationship with the Chosen, and ensuring he focuses on bigger threats to people of Westeros than us.
--[X] Sharing with him our wast array of Lore on Enemies of All (Devils, Demons, Daemons, Others, Illithid, Fey, Rakshasa, Tiamat, etc.-) is a big aspect of this. There is also the potential of directly sponsoring him (see: Warrior's Chosen) if all goes well...

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Undoubtedly several-chapter mess with several votes

egoo said:

[X] Use Discern Location, Greater Scrying, and Greater Teleport to find and deal with the Wisps that you encountered so long ago in swamps of Braavos... One way, or another.
-[X] It'll be a very short trip for someone of Viserys' power these days unless the Wisps take care to reside in local Feywild.

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At best a single vote, at worst they will make us run after them before they burn.

egoo said:

[X] If at all possible, attempt to set up a personal meeting with the Traitor-General of Yi-Ti.
-[X] General purpose: raising awareness on the matters of Golden Company, Illithids, Devils, Bloodstone Emperor acting actively and Long Night coming - ensure that he sees the true dangers to his people - and doesn't interfere with our coming war with Golden Company.

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We have to drop by, and diplomance a bit - likely several updates

egoo said:

[X] Have Divinations run targeting Denys Mallery - ensuring his safety wherever his father decides to send him.
-[X] It might be a good idea to visit him as the cleric of the Earth Mother in person (be it in reality or but a dream) - in the light of the deal you set up with the Storm God, he is your best chance at reaching his patron... And, perhaps, ensuring that her blessings spread far and wide, ensuring both her and your realm's prosperity.

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Visiting the cleric of the Earth Mother IC - several chapters

egoo said:

[X] Check the Lys' Flesh-forge's Feywild reflection.
-[X] If possible, have it brought under Imperial supervision and protection, given a possibility of it being able to repeat the feats of Mossforge - but from a whole new angle, so fitting the Feywild it resides in.
--[X] If the situation "on land" proves to be in any way volatile, contact Viserys.

[X] Have a report on activities of Court of Stars, and the progress on the task we left him on, by Candlekeep Courtier.

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[X] Have our Diplomacy corps make moves to set up a personal meeting with Azure Emperor.
-[X] The goal being us sharing the lore on "Enemies of all" with each-other (Yi-Ti is bound to have unique lore on Void - having lived through the Long Night - and Bloodstone Emperor; whereas we have extensive knowledge of Devils, Illithids and Others (as a new tool of the Void).

[X] By sending people to look into Tiamat's Shadow Fortress, you are no doubt setting a very difficult task before them - even if they aren't there to actually get in, but just to learn the plans and a quick way to enter later.
-[X] At the start of the 11th month, ask Undead of Sallosh to assists Melisande, Shadow!Tor and Anu in their task, if only because one of the guarding measures seem to be engaged Undead of their long-lost nation.

[X] The lore Lya uncovered within the Light of Creation is truly fascinating... and opens many magnificent possibilities. Still, the first order of business should probably be seeking out similar sources, now knowing what to look for:
-[X] Ask Bloodraven (and consequently, Old Gods) if through their deep connection to Earth they ever came upon knowledge like such for Earth spirits.

[X] Proceed with the binding of several Valyrian dragons:
-[X] Grey Ghost - Headmistress Teana Strycos,

[X] Have Amrelath, Maelor and Malarys read the Light of Creation (Amy for his upcoming rule on PoF, Maelor and Malarys for dealing with infiltration to CoB)
-[X] Maelor's copy would obviously be disguised and shrouded away from sight in every way we can, and attempts would be made to never be caught reading it.

[X] Ask Siduri for True Names of Devils serving Dispater. Having saved Zathir, and taken Siduri's oath, you all but ensured your eventual enmity. Once he openly makes a move against you, you will have just as little left to lose with him, as you do with Mammon.
--[X] Take care to learn the names of Devils most likely to operate on Plane of Balance, or otherwise hurting our interest, via divination and interference with other sources (Uniila, Erynies, other captives), and target them first if a move is made against you. Continue operations as standard from there, with the questioning of captured Devils leading further into dismantling their operating cells to a maximally available degree.

[X] Assign the 4 Spontaneous Search stations created in 10th month to:
-[X] 1 to Sorcerer's Deep Schoalrum
-[X] 3 to Sorcerer's Deep Extraplanar trade route (one on our side, one in Opaline Vault and Armun Kelish each respectively).

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