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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:
Balerion
The Crownless King, The First Rider, Battle Born

Alignment: Lawful Evil

Domains: War, Law, Domination

Known Servitors: Smoke Creature Half Dragons thought to be the breath of the god given form and will, though some heretical texts claimed they were his own children reserved for eternity by their father's side.

The Church: Worship of Balerion took three broad forms. War priests venerated him as the battle born, said to have been conceived and then reborn upon the field of war as did those who wished to be reborn in battle after some great great tragedy. Many did not survive this trial in blood and flame and were instead immortalized though their death even if only by a narrow scrawl upon a temple wall. Other dragon riders worshiped Balerion in his aspect as the First rider who 'brindled the savage dragons'. Last though certainly not least the lawkeepers and inquisitors worshiped him as the crownless king who refused the acclamation for those who would name him king and instead appointed the Assembly of the Forty.

Tenets of the Faith: One must keep one's promises to the letter, always know the law of the land and be decisive in seeking redress for any insult offered.
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@DragonParadox, so our dragon dream of the First Rider was actually a dream of Balerion before he ascended?
 
DragonParadox said:
Fourteen Fires, Fourteen Gods​

Fourteen were the gods of lost Valyria, fourteen the fire mounts upon which they built their realm, and not without cause. It was said of old that the gods kept their thrones in the heart of the mountains, where the flames of the earth burned strongest. These then were the holiest shrines, built not by mortal hands but by divine will, or at least so the tales told.

For most of the Dragonlords, the gods were a distant thing felt only through the hand of their priests who generally played the games of politics and power just as readily as any other sorcerer. It is little wonder that several currents of thought sprang into being over the centuries which claimed that 'the gods' were nothing more than an antiquated veil for some novel means of reaching for arcane power. The priests themselves cared little for such talk so long as it was kept to whispers shared in one's cups, though on the singular instance when such arguments were used in an attempt to strip wealth and lore from the cult of Balerion, the consequences were swift and brutal, putting an end to all mention of 'divine impotence' for half a millennia and more.

The gods of Valyria never proselytized, seemingly caring little for the adoration of the multitudes and preferring instead the loyalty of secretive cabals steeped in hidden lore, a legacy of elder times when the sons and daughters of the Great Wyrms hid from their ancestors' eyes as they plotted their destruction.

None held to this principle more so than Syrax, called the Lady of Magic and the Whisperer of Prophecy. Where the others offered their gifts to priests who served openly in at least some respect, such as the War Priests of Balerion or the Navigators beholden to the Mistress of the Winding path, the priests of Syrax worked in secret, some say to help fulfill their patron's prophecies, with one exception—the Threefold Oracle of Lyceos—where any who would dare, and possessed a heavy enough coin pouch, could learn secrets of the past, present, and future far beyond any common magic.

At the other end of the scale, one finds Meraxes, she who watches over soldiers, for soldiers are many and those lesser in rank no less vital to the workings of the army than the great generals, perhaps even greater, for an army without a general can raise one of their own to the task, but a general without an army is a soon-to-be corpse. While the framework of secret worship still technically held true, it was threadbare at best with ascension into a particular circle more a matter of building and enforcing the bonds of fellowship.

The Gods and Their Servants

Balerion
The Crownless King, The First Rider, Battle Born

Alignment: Lawful Evil

Domains: War, Law, Domination

Known Servitors: Smoke Creature Half-Dragons thought to be the breath of the god given form and will, though some heretical texts claimed they were his own children preserved for eternity by their father's side.

The Church: Worship of Balerion took three broad forms. War Priests venerated him as the battle born, said to have been conceived and then reborn upon the field of war, as did those who wished to be reborn in battle after some great great tragedy. Many did not survive this trial in blood and flame and were instead immortalized through their death, even if only by a narrow scrawl upon a temple wall. Other dragon riders worshiped Balerion in his aspect as the First Rider who 'bridled the savage dragons'. Last, though certainly not least, the Lawkeepers and Inquisitors worshiped him as the Crownless King who refused the acclamation for those who would name him king and instead appointed the Assembly of the Forty.

Tenets of the Faith: One must keep one's promises to the letter, always know the law of the land, and be decisive in seeking redress for any insult offered.

Caraxes
Death's Claw, The Still Lord, Keeper of Souls

Alignment: Neutral Evil

Domains: Death, Pact, Protection

The Church: The priests of Caraxes were scholars of death, distant at times and seemingly callous to the affairs of the living, but never so much that they did not offer counsel to high and low alike. According to Lady Calderis, they also offered more if one were willing to stake one's soul upon the pledge, knowledge or secrecy to veil one from foes. It is more than you can say to guess how many heretics from his brothers and sisters the dragon god received over the years.

Tenants of the Faith: Acquire knowledge, and with knowledge you shall be tested. Guard diligently the urns of the fallen against any who would define them.

Meraxes
The Watcher in the Night, the Soldier's Friend, the Duty-Bound

Alignment: Lawful Neutral

Domains: Dragons, Nobility, War

Known Supernatural Servitors: Revenants of soldiers who have died in the service of some seemingly impossible duty (They gain the Law-Bound template)

The Church: The servants of Meraxes, as She is remembered in Volantis, were for centuries keepers of memory and honor, whose task it was to keep alive the honor of the citizen soldier. Alas, the use of Unsullied and sellswords rendered them less and less relevant with each passing year as the priests struggled to retain some scrap of influence by aggrandizing magisters of a more martial bent, even those who only possessed the desire for glory in battle but not the skill to claim it. Yet through it all the altar was never dark, the swords still stood upon the Walk of Heroes, even those wrought of priceless spellsteel. No family would dare disgrace itself by drawing a blade sheathed in the earth beside a great general's ashes. Visions began to fly through the dreams of the keepers of the temple, whispers in the deepest night, for what is death, even a god's death to duty's call?

Tenets of the Faith: The virtues Meraxes calls for are those for a soldier to live by, ever to have a weapon but never to draw it thoughtlessly or in haste, to keep the orders of one's superiors lest they work against the greater interests of the army and one's comrades, and never to fight a war of fratricide.

OOC: Most of this has been posted before, but Balerion and Caraxes are new. Will add more of them as I have the time. Not yet edited.
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Here's an edited version of the chapter, DP.

Very neat info for the Valyrian gods.
 
The tally program really doesn't seem to like interlude votes for some reason. No clue why it keeps splitting up votes like this.

That said, don't forget to vote, y'all. We have plenty of options.
Adhoc vote count started by Goldfish on Mar 13, 2020 at 7:38 PM, finished with 34 posts and 14 votes.
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[X] Write in
-[x] Garin's party.

This is the resolution of a issue that has been hanging over us for over a millions words, a series relief for one of our dearest friends, and we have not had any slice of life for a while. So I feel a bit more focus on the after effects of what Mel did is desirable, and now is a good time as we have nothing urgent right now.
 
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