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

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OK, vote closed. I'm going to try to get this up before I go off and do Christmas things today.
Adhoc vote count started by DragonParadox on Dec 25, 2019 at 3:18 AM, finished with 49 posts and 10 votes.
  • [X] Attempt to learn whether or not Benedar Belmore is knowingly manipulating Alyn Surehammer into marrying his daughter on spurious claims, whether Clara is complicit, and if any others are involved in the plot.
    -[X] Then move on to @egoo's plan.
    --[X] Now that we are nigh sure the unknown element is the Stranger's Chosen... the best way to go about it, is to wait.
    --[X] We failed to recover anything we could act upon from this dead-drop due to the time that's passed since it was used. But Smith's Chosen is still not protected from Divination, and neither are the knights or his contacts. Sooner or later, someone will pick up the new supplies, and those would be far more likely to contain... anything you could use.
    ---[X] Have the network of contacts we Divined throughout the month continuously monitored for signs of a new dead-drop. The moment one is made, attempt reaching it and recovering whatever's possible to.
    --[X] In the meantime, go and meet the cleric of the Earth Mother, discretely. We are interested in both him and his patron, for a multitude of reasons.
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Part MMMCCLIII: Eyes from Afar
  • Threadmarks
    • Eyes from Afar ​

    Twenty Eighth Day of the Eleventh Month 293 AC

    This unseen gift giver is far more troubling than Alyn Surehammer or even the Chosen of the Crone, whose purpose you can at least guess at, so you resolve not to approach the Smith's Chosen yet. He is doing little harm in spreading his weapons and quite a lot of good dealing with threats such as devils and malicious fey. You will wait and you will watch, and you will find one of these dead drops more recent than three weeks. A thread of hair, a drop of dried blood, even the merest flake of skin is all you need to find him as you had found Tor the second time through the magic of Yss' staff.

    In the meantime, the Great Serpent can answer other questions of the doings at Strongsong. Benedar Belmore does not, it transpires, believe Alyn had acted improperly with his daughter, but he does sincerely believe that if he does not wed her she will be socially ruined and the lord certainly does not dislike the notion of being able to call the Chosen of the Smith 'goodson'. Clara herself is also free of the taint of any plot as is her mother, but there are other mortal plotters spinning webs in the wake of fey meddling. Who they are, however, divination alone cannot say.

    "Do you ever wonder if Yss finds these sorts of questions strange?" Dany asks, her voice echoing strangely against the geometries of the Chamber of the Pool.

    "I suspect Yss has decided for his own peace of mind not to look too closely at the sorts of answers mortals ask him to find," you reply with an amused shake of the head.

    As you entreat the Great Serpent to turn his eye from the Vale to the Crownlands, the lands of House Mallery where you intend to seek the servant of another elder god, you too are surprised in turn, and not by anything the youngest brother Denys had done with the powers of Mother Earth. Rather, it is Edric Mallery, whom you had aided in persuading his father away from trusting the Golden Shields, who has become more than you might have guessed, though it had been unknowingly by your hand.

    "You blessed him with magic of a glib tongue so hard it stuck and he's a sorcerer now?" your sister is not even trying to hide her giggles now. "Is that something you can do again?" she asks more seriously, seeing the potential just as you did.

    "No," you shake your head. "It was not just speaking the spells, letting blessings fly as they will. It was the weight of the moment out there in the woods, taking up his responsibilities to kith and kin, making the magic his own amidst his trial. Though the Scholarum may teach sorcery just as the priests of R'hllor or the Mysterium, the Golden Shields, the warlocks of Qarth, the mage-smiths of Qohor, and a thousand other traditions we yet know nothing of, it pays to remember that at the heart of all magic is mystery that no one can fully unravel."

    "Better that way," Dany nods. "The world would be a boring place if we had all the answers." After a moment's silence she adds. "Philosophy aside, how do we handle this? Edric has not told anyone about his own magic, likely out of concern for how his father will react to yet another secret like the one that nearly tore their House apart, but this isn't a secret he can keep forever, not with Denys a mage himself and in the same household."

    You consider the matter for a long moment then ask one final question of Yss. The hiss of 'Yesss...' hangs in the air as the vessel vanishes beneath the pool. Lothar Mallery's envoy was still in Sorcerer's Deep. Perhaps you should approach him before his lord, either as yourself or in a less troubling guise. You can learn a great deal of the the lord's mind by what he had wished investigated, and if the meeting goes well you can even grant the envoy the use of a construct raven to send his answers home instead of waiting another two weeks for a ship to make port in King's Landing and the envoy to ride to his lord's keep.

    What do you do?

    [] Approach the Mallery envoy to get a better impression of what Lothar Mallery expects
    -[] Write in how

    [] Approach Lothar Mallery directly
    -[] Write in how

    [] Approach Edric Mallery to speak of his newly awakened magic
    -[] Write in how

    [] Approach Denys Mallery to learn more of the mind of Mother Earth, whose power he wields
    -[] Write in how

    [] Write in

    OOC: A bit of a bridge chapter, but one where there's enough new information to justify a vote I think.
     
    Last edited:
  • Threadmarks
    • Hmm, if I were to plan our approach? T'would be:

    1) Talk to Lothar's Envoy and see what sort of help can we do for him.
    2) Whilst we're doing it, we're gonna talk to our dear ol' Edric (Lorgar 2.0) and see how are we gonna approach his father.
    3) After we're done dealing with Lothar's problem, he's gonna be beholden to us and will do just about anything to repay us.
    4) Do it by asking him NOT to freak out that his son is a Word BearerDiplomancer.
    5) Untangle any mess in that conversation whilst doing so.
    6) PROFIT!

    At least that's my take.
     
    DragonParadox said:
    Eyes from Afar ​

    Twenty Eighth Day of the Eleventh Month 293 AC

    This unseen gift giver is far more troubling than Alyn Surehammer or even the Chosen of the Crone, whose purpose you can at least guess at, so you resolve not to approach the Smith's Chosen yet. He is doing little harm in spreading his weapons and quite a lot of good dealing with threats such as devils and malicious fey. You will wait and you will watch, and you will find one of these dead drops more recent than three weeks. A thread of hair, a drop of dried blood, even the merest flake of skin is all you need to find him as you had found Tor the second time through the magic of Yss' staff.

    In the meantime, the Great Serpent can answer other questions of the doings at Strongsong. Benedar Belmore does not, it transpires, believe Alyn had acted improperly with his daughter, but he does sincerely believe that if he does not wed her she will be socially ruined and the lord certainly does not dislike the notion of being able to call the Chosen of the Smith 'goodson'. Clara herself is also free of the taint of any plot as is her mother, but there are other mortal plotters spinning webs in the wake of fey meddling. Who they are, however, divination alone cannot say.

    "Do you ever wonder if Yss finds these sorts of questions strange?" Dany asks, her voice echoing strangely against the geometries of the Chamber of the Pool.

    "I suspect Yss has decided for his own peace of mind not to look too closely at the sorts of answers mortals ask him to find," you reply with an amused shake of the head.

    As you entreat the Great Serpent to turn his eye from the Vale to the Crownlands, the lands of House Mallery where you intend to seek the servant of another elder god, you too are surprised in turn, and not by anything the youngest brother Denys had done with the powers of Mother Earth. Rather, it is Edric Mallery, whom you had aided in persuading his father away from trusting the Golden Shields, who has become more than you might have guessed, though it had been unknowingly by your hand.

    "You blessed him with magic of a glib tongue so hard it stuck and he's a sorcerer now?" your sister is not even trying to hide her giggles now. "Is that something you can do again?" she asks more seriously, seeing the potential just as you did.

    "No," you shake your head. "It was not just speaking the spells, letting blessings fly as they will. It was the weight of the moment out there in the woods, taking up his responsibilities to kith and kin, making the magic his own amidst his trial. Though the Scholarum may teach sorcery just as the priests of R'hllor or the Mysterium, the Golden Shields, the warlocks of Qarth, the mage-smiths of Qohor, and a thousand other traditions we yet know nothing of, it pays to remember that at the heart of all magic is mystery that no one can fully unravel."

    "Better that way," Dany nods. "The world would be a boring place if we had all the answers." After a moment's silence she adds. "Philosophy aside, how do we handle this? Edric has not told anyone about his own magic, likely out of concern for how his father will react to yet another secret like the one that nearly tore their House apart, but this isn't a secret he can keep forever, not with Denys a mage himself and in the same household."

    You consider the matter for a long moment then ask one final question of Yss. The hiss of 'Yesss...' hangs in the air as the vessel vanishes beneath the pool. Lothar Mallery's envoy was still in Sorcerer's Deep. Perhaps you should approach him before his lord, either as yourself or in a less troubling guise. You can learn a great deal of the the lord's mind by what he had wished investigated, and if the meeting goes well you can even grant the envoy the use of a construct raven to send his answers home instead of waiting another two weeks for a ship to make port in King's Landing and the envoy to ride to his lord's keep.

    What do you do?

    [] Approach the Mallery envoy to get a better impression of what Lothar Mallery expects
    -[] Write in how

    [] Approach Lothar Mallery directly
    -[] Write in how

    [] Approach Edric Mallery to speak of his newly awakened magic
    -[] Write in how

    [] Approach Denys Mallery to learn more of the mind of Mother Earth, whose power he wields
    -[] Write in how

    [] Write in

    OOC: A bit of a bridge chapter, but one where there's enough new information to justify a vote I think.
    Click to expand...
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    Made some edits to the chapter, DP.
     
    [X] Approach the Mallery envoy to get a better impression of what Lothar Mallery expects
    -[X] If there is an Inquisition report pertaining to the envoy, use it to familiarize ourselves with the man and to learn what he's been up to in Sorcerer's Deep since arriving here.
    --[X] If his impression seems to have been favorable up to this point, seek him out directly and make an introduction. He's been sent here to ask questions and to learn of us and our realm, so perhaps he would like to hear the some answers directly from the Dragon's mouth, so to speak?
    --[X] If it seems the envoy has not formed a favorable impression during his time in Sorcerer's Deep, we will instead contact Edric Mallery via a Sending spell in order to arrange a meeting with him as our point of contact with the Mallerys.
     
    @Goldfish, a question please. How would this pertain to our info on the fact that the Lord Mallery's son is a mage?

    Like, what would be relation? Is it more 'Hook, Line, and Sinker'? Ask if he's amendable to further questioning to the Lord's attitude and work ourselves from there?
     
    Jack vile Ripper said:
    @Goldfish, a question please. How would this pertain to our info on the fact that the Lord Mallery's son is a mage?

    Like, what would be relation? Is it more 'Hook, Line, and Sinker'? Ask if he's amendable to further questioning to the Lord's attitude and work ourselves from there?
    Click to expand...
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    Learning of what the envoy has been up to, then meeting with him is the first step. If we speak with him, we can decide if we want to use the man as a go between or use the more direct route. Either way, that will be a separate decision, I think.
     
    Goldfish said:
    Learning of what the envoy has been up to, then meeting with him is the first step. If we speak with him, we can decide if we want to use the man as a go between or use the more direct route. Either way, that will be a separate decision, I think.
    Click to expand...
    Click to shrink...

    So this is the roundabout way, huh?

    Hmm, fine.

    [X] Goldfish
     
    Ah, so the Yss avatar can be questioned for minor things while digesting his latest meal. We just can't force feed him his outsider vitamins.

    Is he due another power-up soon @DragonParadox? The avatar, I mean. We've fed him a lot of goodies this past year.

    Does D&D or Pathfinder even have something similar to an Esper/GF/Eidolon/Aeon summon from Final Fantasy? Like, would it be a possible Mythic Spell to summon Yss' avatar to perform a one-time special attack?
     
    Takesis said:
    Ah, so the Yss avatar can be questioned for minor things while digesting his latest meal. We just can't force feed him his outsider vitamins.

    Is he due another power-up soon @DragonParadox? The avatar, I mean. We've fed him a lot of goodies this past year.

    Does D&D or Pathfinder even have something similar to an Esper/GF/Eidolon/Aeon summon from Final Fantasy? Like, would it be a possible Mythic Spell to summon Yss' avatar to perform a one-time special attack?
    Click to expand...
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    Viserys: "I play my Sleepy Snek card!"

    Pit Fiend: "What?"

    Yss: *SSSLURP*

    Pit Fiend: (too busy being digested to make further comments)
     
    Something like Shadow Snake might actually be possible.

    Like, not the really avatar, but, in tradition of the above-named spells, a Shadow-replica of Yss that drains some of the victims life with each bite (maybe even sending it home to Yss).
     
    Goldfish said:
    Maw of the Nightwave makes me want to make a 9th level version, maybe call it Jaws of Yss or something a bit snappier.

    Make it a single target save-or-die + ranged sacrifice to Yss, only able to be used when Yss is not in a food coma?
    Click to expand...
    Click to shrink...
    Maybe something more reliable but less powerful, like an effect that chews on a target dealing negative levels each round. While also poisoning the target with a drop of divine venom.
     
    Hm, well you can cut the Edric Mallery knot still.

    Viserys, to Lord Mallery: "I'm glad this meeting resolved amiably, though..."

    Lord Mallery: "What is it?"

    Viserys: "I glanced over at your sons--one is certainly touched by something of the divine. The other has strong potential for magic. I'm surprised it hasn't manifested already."

    Lord Mallery: "Can't he just not learn it?"

    Viserys: "Probably not."

    Lord Mallery: "And why the Hells not?"

    Viserys: "Because you'll be reading these," *drops a chest of books and lore onto his desk* "And he'll have to read them after you, eventually. Given the state of the age, and what those tomes will reveal, well... refusing magic seems a bit sillier than it used to."

    Viserys, looking like a Dread Sorcerer: "I am not biased at all."
     
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