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

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Adhoc vote count started by DragonParadox on Apr 25, 2020 at 1:47 PM, finished with 38 posts and 13 votes.
  • [X] Another perspective on Empire Day
    -[X] Fair Walda Frey
    [X] A fresh set of eyes...
    -[X] Another perspective on Empire Day
    --[X] Yslla Royce
    -[X] More reports on the doings of the last month (Extraplanar Rumor post)
    [X] More reports on the doings of the last month (Rumor post)
    [X] Another perspective on Empire Day
    -[X] Riz'neth visiting Vee over baby Yuanti rearing/meeting the Togous
    -[X] Transistion to Extraplanar Rumours
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Interlude DCCLXXIII: The Open Way
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    • The Open Way ​

    First Day of the First Month 294 AC

    Most who had met 'Fair' Walda Frey in Sorcerer's Deep, not that she could use that name, would count her quite ordinary for a witch at least, some noble's get come to learn magic to better her prospects. An ordinary witch, the girl almost giggled thinking it, flashing a smile to a surprised Sam. Her smile was among her best features, Walda knew, her mother had told her that when she was just six years old and she had said it would help her get a good match. Walda had not been impressed at the notion that she would have to marry some silly boy and go off to live with him, she had been even less impressed at the notion that Old Lord Walder Frey would have a say in which boy.

    He's old and mean and smells too, the girl recalled saying... well shouting at the top of her voice in a tantrum many of her kin remembered to this day. She certainly remembered the paddling it had earned her and going to bed hungry. First thing the next day she had put on her prettiest smile and apologized to Lord Frey. It had been the first time she had lied properly. Walda remembered how surprised she had been at having managed it. Surely all the grown ups should be able to see somehow that she wanted to punch him in his stupid toothless face. But no, that is what they had expected to see, eyes on the ground, sheepish smile and soft words, no matter how sharp her tongue was she would always be 'good' in the end.

    In Sorcerer's Deep she wasn't expected to keep her eyes down, for how would she learn magic looking at the dirt, unless it was the creepy tree magic that Walda had no interest in. In the Dragon's court she wasn't expected to speak softly, only with care for royal secrets. In the Empire she could smile as and to whom she pleased.

    Walda took a skewer of figs, onions, lamb and chicken spiced with herbs she couldn't quite name from Sam and started nibbling it, one eye on the sky for the dragon and wyvern sky-dance. The young sorceress liked Samwell Tarly, he was clever, thoughtful and interesting even when he was missing the forest for the trees. He probably wouldn't look too bad after a few more months of running around the island. His father was a respected lord even, all told the sort of match her mother would be throwing Walda at. She had no intention of marrying Samwell Tarly, and that particular realization had left her more giggly than the cup of Sorcerer's Purple she had drunk with dinner.

    "What?" Sam asked bemused.

    Of course she couldn't tell the poor boy the truth, he would take it the wrong way. "Just looking forward to seeing the wyverns."

    "Not the dragons?" the by asked confused. Most people in Sorcerer's Deep adored dragons of every sort, right down to the little shoulder dragons some of the Scholarum mages partnered with, probably because they were kin to the King, however distantly.

    "Dragons are terrible and wondrous, but they're an old thing come back to life," Walda answered, eyes still fixed to the sky. "I prefer new things myself."

    Sam nodded slowly, not understanding all of it, but maybe more than she said aloud. "So what are you thinking of doing once you get your mastery?"

    "You know, I'm not sure yet." It was an altogether different and far happier uncertainty than that stretched out before her just months before.

    What next?

    [] Another perspective on Empire Day
    -[] Joran of Dragonstone
    -[] Ysilla Royce
    -[] Thoros of Myr
    -[] Write in

    [] More reports on the doings of the last month (Rumor post)

    [] Continue with Viserys
    -[] Write in

    [] Write in

    OOC: Punching Walder Frey is still a fond fantasy of Walda's, but alas some childish dreams must be let go. She'll have to settle for metaphorically punching him with her refusal to tow the House line.
     
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    • BronzeTongue said:
    I've been using some of extra free time lately to sort through magic items that might be useful to us. Wanted to share now that I've caught up with the thread again, and now seemed like a good time since the thread is sort of quiet.
    Firstly, I've been looking for stuff to help protect from mind/soul attacks for Viserys and imperial agents in general.

    Iron Circlet of Guarded Souls CL 11, immunity to anything that touches the soul and some nondetection grade anti divination. Wouldn't stop Tiamat, but I'd assume it'd slow her down more effectively than something less specialized. It's cheaper than mindblank rings at the very least.

    Steel Mind Cap CL 9, reduces stunned and dazed down to confused and confused + staggered respectively. Not the best, but still a lifesaver if someone drops the ball during rocket tag.

    Seducer's Bane CL 6, If you make the save against an enchantment it identifies the caster to the wearer, reports a false positive to them, and generates an aura that looks like the spell working properly. Also provides a bonus to will on such saves and against sense motive in general. More for the inquisition than us.

    Headband of Mental Resilience CL 16, buffs mental attributes and provides a buffer of 5 virtual ability points to soak drain/damage on mental attributes. Not super useful, but situationally it could be helpful.

    On a general minion equipment note, I have some neat goodies for our upcoming wars.

    Amulet of Elemental Strife CL 8, provides Resistance 5 against the energy type based on the elemental subtype of any outsider within 60ft. Also allows the wearer to bypass damage reduction on creatures who match the type of their current resistance. One point of confusion on this one; it talks about "outsiders with an elemental subtype" at the beginning, but then switches to "elementals" . So the DR bypass might only apply to elementals if that's not just a mistake. Useful either way given how the genies run things.

    Master's Perfect Golden Bell CL 15, reduces DR of all extraplanar creatures by 5 so long as they are within 30 ft while it is ringing. Lasts 1d6 rounds, 10 round daily max. Fun for strike teams, or security forces on a moonchaser.

    Engineer's work gloves CL 5, +5 competence on craft and knowledge for repairing and understanding mechanical devices, plus a 1/day touch based instant diagnostic. Might be useful for engineers trying to find the most effective place to spend repair spells, or if it's bad enough to warrant their use in the first place.

    Gloves of shaping CL 5, let you manipulate anything with hardness 8 or less like it's soft clay. Anything more than that gets reduced by half. The example given is using these to make steel items with woodworking tools. This could make crafting with really hard materials practical for normal people, and speed up making stuff with regular ones. How much faster would ship construction be if you could sculpt the parts of it without specialized tools before hardening it?

    Arrow Magnet CL 3, when thrown it hovers 5 ft off the ground and redirects any projectile that passes through an adjacent square until 5 rounds pass or it is destroyed. Having the point defense on a moonchaser launch these as chaff would be a great way to supplement the shield elements.

    It can only be thrown 50 ft, but if it's hover effect isn't fixed against the actual ground for a flying boat it's the perfect item for this kind of work. It costs 300 gp to craft, but that's pretty trivial so long as they don't pop them carelessly.
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    The effect from the Iron Circlet of Guarded Souls is very nice. Niche but effective, and not too expensive to add to pre-existing gear.

    Not too sure about those Steel Mind Caps. Just about any effect is better than being Stunned, but having that reduced to Confused + Staggered is still pretty awful. A Confused person can attack their own allies, after all.

    The Bell is neat. It wouldn't be a bad idea to have some of those for the Inquisition and our lower level adventurers.

    Engineer's Workgloves are low key, but would be super useful for our engineers. Several pairs for each Moonchaser would be a good investment, along with more for the skydock facility we're going to build. The Bulabar might like them, too.

    Arrow Magnets are kinda neat, but I don't really think they're something we should try to use, at least not as a chaff substitute during ship combat. They would only cost 60 IM each, but would require quite a few of them to have an appreciable effect in large-scale combat. 10 for 600 IM doesn't sound bad, but just one single-use Brilliant Barrier charm would be able to cover a similar area for 140 IM, it would be able to take more hits and last up to twice as long, too. Each Moonchaser also has two Brilliant Barrier projectors which can be used endlessly for no extra cost.

    Gonna add your list to my notes for crafting and purchase. Thanks, dude.
     
    DragonParadox said:
    ​

    OOC: Punching Walder Frey is still a fond fantasy of Walda's, but alas some childish dreams must be let go. She'll have to settle for metaphorically punching him with her refusal to tow the House line. Not yet edited.
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    I'm not sure punching him in the face is in any way our problem. She can still do that in the future, specially if she somehow break the 10th level cap, in which case she's much more useful to us.
     
    Thinking about it, we should just move onto the Turn Plan or we'll be dragging our feet all of tomorrow.

    [X] Back to Viserys
    -[X] ACSEC numbers and 1st Month Turn Plan.
     
    Walder is savvy enough to have picked up on the fact that trying stuff like forcing arranged marriages on people who's cursing is a little bit more serious than foul language is a bad idea. Even setting aside direct action, anyone with even a single level in a casting class has all sorts of opportunities to pursue if they decide to leave, so financial control means less than it once did.

    I wouldn't be surprised if he finds some other approach to keeping his family in line.
    Goldfish said:
    The effect from the Iron Circlet of Guarded Souls is very nice. Niche but effective, and not too expensive to add to pre-existing gear.

    Not too sure about those Steel Mind Caps. Just about any effect is better than being Stunned, but having that reduced to Confused + Staggered is still pretty awful. A Confused person can attack their own allies, after all.

    The Bell is neat. It wouldn't be a bad idea to have some of those for the Inquisition and our lower level adventurers.

    Engineer's Workgloves are low key, but would be super useful for our engineers. Several pairs for each Moonchaser would be a good investment, along with more for the skydock facility we're going to build. The Bulabar might like them, too.

    Arrow Magnets are kinda neat, but I don't really think they're something we should try to use, at least not as a chaff substitute during ship combat. They would only cost 60 IM each, but would require quite a few of them to have an appreciable effect in large-scale combat. 10 for 600 IM doesn't sound bad, but just one single-use Brilliant Barrier charm would be able to cover a similar area for 140 IM, it would be able to take more hits and last up to twice as long, too. Each Moonchaser also has two Brilliant Barrier projectors which can be used endlessly for no extra cost.

    Gonna add your list to my notes for crafting and purchase. Thanks, dude.
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    I'm happy something useful actually came from all the searching I did. Good point on the arrow magnets, I was thinking more as an emergency thing, but that's probably not worth the weight on second thought. As a fixed item they might have a use though, depending on if they're reusable/rechargeable when not destroyed.

    The description says nothing about intervening objects blocking the effect, so we could put them in armored modules on the armor and exert control over where the ship is hit if something gets past the shields. A few of these could cover sensitive points like entry points, weapon ports, and places where the armor is relatively thin.

    If we really went all out we could put a grid over the hull and direct fire away from damaged sections.

    It needs some more thought, but being able to pick - to a degree - where you get hit would be incredibly valuable.
     
    DragonParadox said:
    Here is what I have, most of the list is unchanged with only the Valyrian stuff tweaked.If anyone has suggestions feel free to share.

    Highest Division Level
    Westeros: Lord Paramount - Lands (Stormlands, Riverlands, Westerlands... general enough to work)
    Valyrian: Hegemon - Hegemony (I am actually leaving this as Hegemon in english to demote a word that was borrowed wholesale by Westerosi common, the English of the seting)
    General: King - Kingdom
    Imperial: Governor-General - High-Governorship

    Ducal Level - this person rules over multiple Count-Level titles and thus multiple provinces on the map
    Westeros: Duke - Duchy (Example: Hightowers, who have multiple powerful vassals who hold noteworthy amounts of lands themselves)
    Valyrian: Archon - Archontia (I left this one since it is actually used a lot in the quest and it would not make sense to change it)
    Imperial: Governor - Governorship

    Count Level - this person rules one province on the map
    Westeros: Count - County (Example: Manderly, who has some minor vassals)
    Valyrian: Thaemos - Theame (Valyrianized titles for a Greek Theme which was used by our friends the Byzantines)
    Imperial: Magistrate - Province (basically a judge for the whole area, as his job is more settling local disputes then actual ruling)

    Lowest Level
    Westeros: Baron - Barony / Landed Knight - Barony (Example: the Cleganes)
    Valyrian: Vaeroseía - Vaeros (I literally stole the transliteration of barony and then altered it so that it had more of the common 's' sounds over 'r's.It looks Valyrian enough to me)
    Imperial: Commissar - Commissariat (helper of the Magistrate and basically a low-level government clerk at this point)

    General Titles:
    Ser - Knight in Westeros
    Lord - any member of landed nobility in Westeros
    Magister - any member counted towards the economic aristocracy in Essos
    Wisdom - catch-all term for mages in Essos
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    @SeekerofLight There you go.
     
    Also, speaking of which, @Goldfish, @TalonofAnathrax, everyone else, if you all would like to do another Issue of the Imperial Times, now is the time.
    Crake said:
    [] The Imperial Times Issue #2: Included in the link is a variation of that logo with a depiction of Viserys in Dragon-form and Planetos guarded by his wings during his rest, depicted upon the title page.
    -[] Details: The Broadsheets will each have an Arcane Mark differentiated with each Issue #. This will make tracking them with a proper ritual and foci (the Marker key) simple for any properly trained mage or expert. The Broadsheets will be hardened by sorcerous means, the batches not being overly bulky, enough that there's no reason that Viserys couldn't do it himself to maximize potential Hardness rating.
    --[]     Finally, while true that many of these will be pointlessly lost, or at least have access restricted as people either cast them aside from baseless superstition, or the enemy gets better at disposal, that doesn't mean that attempts to maximize its spread and retention shouldn't be made. We have Inquisition assets in two of the locations they are bound for. Where possible, they will ensure some of them stay in circulation.

    -[] Editorials: Continue providing information seeking to inform people of the state of the world, nothing that a well-traveled sailor could not pick up in a port, but purged of the most outlandish inaccuracies and seeking to educate and inform--hopefully the fact that most of what is happening in the world is actually quite riveting when given the right prose will keep people passing it along as-written.
    --[] Continue with the serialized set of stories and fables, supported by visually expressive art.
    ---[] They will tell about Fey, the kind we deem acceptable, about how to spot Devil/Demon/Daemon cultists, about the spheres and so on and so forth (the point is twisting the narrative of those supernatural creatures that are seriously affected by it, to more sensible and useful direction, while also giving general population a minimal understanding of basic concepts we want them to know).

    -[] The Great Sept of Sorcerer's Deep: A beautiful new temple to the Seven has been raised in Sorcerer's Deep, staffed by Westerosi septons and septas, and guarded by Westerosi knights selected by the lead Septon and armed with enchanted weapons provided by the Dragon King. Go on to use this as an example that the Faith of the Seven can exist comfortably within the Imperium.
    --[] Include an image of the Great Sept's exterior and another of the interior, showing the Sept filled with worshipers.

    -[] Introducing the Earth Mother: Speak of the rediscovered Earth Mother, a benevolent goddess who has just recently awakened from the slumber of ages. She cares nothing for war or conflict and only desires the safety and continued well being of every man, woman, and child in the world.
    --[] Use this as an opportunity to mention a new Fertility Ritual courtesy of the Earth Mother which will soon be made available. Like the ritual currently being used by farmers throughout Essos and even Westeros, this ritual will increase crop yields, but to an even greater degree. Knowledge of this ritual will be free to all who are interested, of course, as it is a gift freely given by the Earth Mother.

    -[] Announcing the Expansion of the Scholarium: With the recent addition of Volantis to the growing Imperium, that great city's own institution of magical learning, the Mysterium, has now joined the Imperial Scholarium.
    --[] This merger further ensures that all Imperial mages will receive as fine an education as can be provided, with experienced mages from all over the world becoming available to provide instruction on both how to use magic, and just as importantly, when to use it. Citizens can rest assured that a Scholarium trained mage knows the laws pertaining to magic and the consequences of disregarding them.

    -[] Behold, the Heart Trees of Healing: Now numbering nearly two dozen strong with the latest round of 19 that were grown in the past month, the Healing Heart Trees of the Old Gods are available to all citizens of the Imperium and those who may choose to visit from further afield. Not only can these trees heal painful and debilitating injuries, it is also within their power to remedy crippling conditions such as blindness and deafness.
    --[] Display a series of maps showing people where they can locate the nearest Healing Tree relative to where they live, outlining landmarks and where they can find local municipal officials who can direct them toward it in an organized fashion.

    -[] Propaganda Posters (Continued from previous issue): Pro-Imperium propaganda along the lines of recruitment for the the imperial institutions—Legion, the Scholarum, the Inquisition, the Imperial Administration, the Diplomatic Corps, etc. These will come in the form of illustrated posters captioned by truespeech.
    --[] For the Inquisition the posters will be along the lines of security and trust, focusing mainly on the need for citizens to cooperate and share intel for the good of the empire. (the Inquisition recruits on their own, that shouldn't be messed with). The themes of this poster will focus on the various threats that the Inquisition regularly squares off against -- mainly fiends, but also Deep Ones.
    --[] For the Legion the posters will focus on the need citizens to cooperate, but also on recruitment. These will be images of glory and righteousness, of liberation and justice. Your basic army recruitment stuff, but embellished as much as we can. They'll illustrate how the Legion defends the Imperium, brings law to godforsaken cities, frees whatever slaves they come across, etc. It's a rallying cry to join in, to see the nearest recruiter, etc.
    --[] For the Scholarum again the need to cooperate, but this one is more an advertisement that they're a legal and certified means of magical expertise, be it for crafting or other things. This could be split in two different approaches—the first being like some university's advertisement, detailing the courses and the resources (geared towards those who are more interested in learning and research), and the second being a call to duty for all eligible mages to rise to serve (this would mirror the Legion posters in a way, with an obviously arcane bent to it).
    --[] For the Diplomatic Corps and the Imperial Administration the general idea is to portray how vital their jobs are and what lives they touch. For the latter, for example, focus on the imperial works in progress, how the materials are being shipped there, the roads being built to connect the Imperium in full, etc. "One Empire". It basically writes itself.

    -[] Continue adding to the newly serialized "Monster's Manual", focusing on common threats to the individual regions.

    -[] "An Exile's Journey, Part Two"
    --[] Although the timeline of events doesn't perfectly mesh with the summarized events from part one of the retelling, this time we will focus on sharing some of our adventures that lead up to the liberation of Mantarys from Demons and their misguided cultists.
    ---[] Despite having barely settled into our new home, what would soon be known as Sorcerer's Deep, dire warnings of approaching calamity shared with us by a Celestial being prompted a mad dash across the continent of Essos.
    ----[] On swift shadow steeds we journeyed, faster than any flesh and blood horse could hope to match, and we were still nearly too late to prevent an army of Demons from being Summoned by a madman. With the aid of our Companions and newfound allies, however, the Listener and his insane ambitions were crushed and the people of Mantarys freed from bondage and Demonic cruelty.
    -----[] Now Mantarys rises as a shining example of prosperity and light, guided by the wise Celestials who helped us defeat the Listener, and lead by the wise and powerful Yrael.
    -----[] While details will be scarce by necessity and sensitive information excluded, we will take this opportunity to introduce Yrael and his fellow Archons as spirits of light and order who wish to help mankind in this new age of magic, and the Minotaurs, formerly of Mantarys, as innocent men and women who were transformed against their will by merciless Demons, but who now wish to rise above their unfortunate origins and make a new life for themselves in the Imperium.
    ------[] To Be Continued
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    Here is the previous issue.
     
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