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

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Its not like they uphold ot with any vigilance.

And any way, we can disguise ourselves and leave no trace of fight since everyone will be dead and we can destroy the lair completely to remove the stone thing.
 
DragonParadox said:
A Call of Aid ​

Twenty-Seventh Day of the Twelfth Month 293 AC

Although you would not ordinarily trust an unknown gremlin to carry a message rather than play some prank upon the sender and receiver both, it is clear lord Humphrey trusts this one enough to watch his lands. Given all the tasks you have entrusted to Glyra over the years, you are hardly one to judge that. Motioning to the fey, you bid it bear a letter to the keep, ready for some odd request or price as fey, particularly mischief makers, are wont to make.

To your surprise, none comes. The little fey snatches up the note and carries it off almost seeming eager, or perhaps even relieved. "You is coming to help yes, yes?"

Before you can answer, it is off, leaving you with far more questions than you had a moment ago, and a good few more worries to tell the truth. "Keep watch, it takes a great deal more than it should to make a gremlin worried."

You had been expecting the same petty fey to return with a reply from the lord of the keep, but you are surprised when a cloaked figure approaches you in the dim lantern light of the tavern you had chosen to patronize. "King Viserys, I presume? I received your letter, though I must apologize that I cannot host you as your status dictates."

Your eyes snap to the speaker's face. A man of middling years with a blond beard already threaded with the beginnings of silver and hair of the same color receding slightly from the forehead. One might almost mistake the man for a Lannister were it not for the sky blue eyes.

"Lord Humphrey?" you only half ask in a low whisper as Lya strengthens the wards on the room, "No apologies required. I am, after all, the reason you are here." One could not offer many compliments to the Ironman's End, upon the privacy one can have here in the absence of much custom, upon the wit of its name also, though one must wonder if the Ironborn in question had perished poisoned by the tavern's fare.

The man smiles, conceding the point, but the expression is fleeting. "I know about the Court of Stars and what they plan and I mislike it. Better to trust the Faith or the Crown than a cabal of deathless spirits who know nothing of ministering to men's souls or their bodies. Would that those be the most urgent troubles of my day."

It is not hard to guess what he might mean, not here with the scent of salt and sea heavy in the air. "Deep Ones?"

"Aye, it's always them, isn't it." Anger and sorrow mingle in his tone and upon his face you can read a silent litany of loss. "I've already sent word to Greyshield, Lord Brandon and Sister Danielle will be here soon, but they told me that you are skilled in sorcery and an enemy of the things in the sea, to trust you as I would trust them in such matters..."

You had expected something like that after your last meeting, but it is still gratifying to hear. All the more hope that you can work with them not against them when the time comes. "What happened, my lord?"

"There had been strange happenings in the town for the past month, though not the sort that a lord would usually notice, merchants packing up and leaving without warning, husbands sailing away from their wives, children running away to sea, all things that happen you understand, but too many for so brief a span of time. I fear they may be... called somewhere perhaps, even without their knowing. One of my daughter's companions..." he trails off, then curses into his beard. "Fuck, this is no time for that. Your Grace, do I have your word that you will not reveal what is being said here in confidence, save to to guard against the Deep Ones?"

"You have it," you reply firmly.

The lord of Oakshield sighs. "My daughter had an... inappropriate connection to a young man living in town. When last they met, he spoke to her of dreams of something calling to him from over the western ocean or under it, of the need to find it, a song of some kind. She tried to restrain him, recognizing the unnatural influence, but he died before she could do anything."

"How?" Lya asks urgently, a thousand possibilities flashing behind her eyes.

"Drowning from what my maester was able to tell, but the strangest part was that as far as he could tell the men had drowned weeks previously, his insides were half-rotten," the Lord replied. "As you can imagine, I entreated the local water fey to perform some divinations, fearing the worst and that is when I found the pattern of people leaving unexpectedly, mostly to sea, though some just seem to vanish altogether."

"I see..." What is dead may never die, but rises again harder, stronger, the words of the old Ironborn prayer echo ominously in your thoughts. What were the Deep Ones planing? "I will help you untangle these threads, my lord, and then we will speak of oaths."

Lord Humphrey Oakshield breathes a sigh of relief. "Thank you, Your Grace. I ask only that you be careful in your investigations. This could start a panic, another one really. After the first night raid three years ago and before Lord Brandon cane to Greyshield, things were... bad."

What do you do next?

[] Speak to Lord Humphrey's daughter
-[] Write in

[] The Elder Brain is warded against foresight and farsight, but not all its plans are, perform your own divinations
-[] Write in

[] Bring Dany here and investigate the Dreamlands

[] Write in

OOC: Apparently my dice wanted a break from diplomacing too. The background rolls were certainly on the interesting side. Not yet edited.
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Here's an edited version of the chapter, DP.
 
My point being that the Illithid act like idiots yet again by completely ignoring Viserys right until he starts the war on his terms.

Which... *sigh*

Doesn't matter.
 
DragonParadox said:
"I've already sent word to Greyshield, Lord Brandon and Sister Danele will be here soon, but they told me that you are skilled in sorcery and an enemy of the things in the sea, to trust you as I would trust them in such matters..."
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Thats surprising.

Azel said:
This would be a complete breach of the truce with the Illithid, meaning open war.
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Give the lord a mindblank and use a proxy.

edit: I saw your second comment sorry.
 
This is weird, even for the Deep Ones, y'all. I don't think it's the main faction doing this, if it's Deep Ones at all.

The daughter's male friend, the one who died but had seemingly been rotting from within for weeks, doesn't sound like Deep One SOP.
 
Goldfish said:
This is weird, even for the Deep Ones, y'all. I don't think it's the main faction doing this, if it's Deep Ones at all.

The daughter's male friend, the one who died but had seemingly been rotting from within for weeks, doesn't sound like Deep One SOP.
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Other ocean-bound Aberations? Maybe a Sea hag or other sea-fey making some undead servants? Just a weird Necromancer? Dragon? Abboleths?!
 
Look, let's start by discreetly gathering intel. There's no harm in that. Then we can decide whether or not to act directly.
However not acting directly risks losing us this man's oath, unless we somehow talk our way out of it (without mentioning the truce, please).
Depending on the intel we find our plans will vary, but I like the idea of providing money for him to "hire" some defenders from our lands. Something like that. There is probably no need to intervene personally unless things have gone really badly, after all.
 
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We do an absurd amount of discreetly gathering intel for a DnD game.

Amd we usually suceed, which is also weird.
 
[X] Gathering Intel
-[X] Speak to Lord Humphrey's daughter
--[X] In addition to asking her to provide a full account of her final encounter with her friend, ask to be shown the location where they last met, and where his body was found. Viserys will use Wild Arcana to duplicate Hindsight spells at each location to learn what he can, while Lya will attempt to use Speak with Dead on his remains, if they are available, to learn more of what is happening.
-[X] Bring Dany here and investigate the Dreamlands if further information is needed.
 
Gather intel. If it is the Deep Ones, teleport Danelle, buff her to the gills, and send her and her merry band of friends to murder all of the squids

If they are not Deep Ones, simply go and murder them.
 
Goldfish said:
Aboleths or Neogi seem possible, but a Sea Hag and her minions could be behind it all, too.
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Aboleths seem to be working with the Illithid.

Don't forget that there was an Aboleth Wizard in charge of the first Deep Ones undersea fortress we blew up with that portal to the Plane of Fire.
 
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zxzx24 said:
We do an absurd amount of discreetly gathering intel for a DnD game.

Amd we usually suceed, which is also weird.
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That is normal for D&D 3.5
Maybe I've played too many prepared casters, but in a high-level party fights are often won or lost depending on strategy, spell selection and spellcasting choices. Therefore Knowledge buffs (to identify monsters and their immunities) and Divination and intel-gathering become increasingly important, despite the rising power of the PCs.
 
Duesal said:
Aboleths deem to be working with the Illithid.

Don't forget that there was an Aboleth Wizard in charge of the first Deep Ones undersea fortress we blew up with that portal to the Plane of Fire.
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I've been convinced since we learned that the Deep Ones are composed of multiple types of horrific Aberrations that they are far from being a tightly aligned power. Aboleths would no more subordinate themselves to Illithids and their Elder Brain masters than the Elder Brains would to the Aboleths. Same probably goes for the Neogi, and whatever other monstrosities fall under the Deep One umbrella.

If my assumptions are correct, the Deep Ones are more likely a loose alliance, one rife with factional disputes, infighting, and jockeying for position and resources.

For our purposes, that means there are possibly faults within the Deep One hierarchy we can possibly exploit. Unfortunately, it also means there could be one of more factions who would happily provoke us to go to war with them, since the faction most likely to suffer in that exchange would be the Illithids.
 
TalonofAnathrax said:
That is normal for D&D 3.5
Maybe I've played too many prepared casters, but in a high-level party fights are often won or lost depending on strategy, spell selection and spellcasting choices. Therefore Knowledge buffs (to identify monsters and their immunities) and Divination and intel-gathering become increasingly important, despite the rising power of the PCs.
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Maybe its a group thing?
DragonParadox said:
Thinking about this, it does not feel like a good idea to rush you guys on the vote so I think we will probably have another day with just two updates. Sorry about that guys.
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No worries dp. Take it easy.
 
Completely off tangent...

Did y'all know that there is such a thing as mushroom ketchup? I sure as hell didn't before just seeing it in Chopped.

Then I Googled it, and it turns out that ketchup was originally made from mushrooms.

Mind. Blown.

🤯

/goes back to the Far Realm, where things still make sense
 
Okay, if we are talking off topic... this is an idea that I bounced off with @egoo yesterday, and the fruit of my bad photoshop skills.

BEHOLD, THE LESHY PALLBEARERS

 
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