Emphasis mine.
I may be misconstructing what you're trying to say, but what I'm saying overall is "We've no time to Research into the Others right now, and not gonna to for a while, Let Djinn deal with it as much as we can".
Ergo, dumping this "interesting" stuff on them.
We've so far:
[] Dumped the Ice Heart on them.
[] Gave them the Winter-made bullshit talismans that grant Evasion or something, to reverse-engineer - not ready yet.
[] Had Rina work with them for a month - they got how to make the Ice Heart work at that point.
[] Had that Other-touched companion of Danelle's show up at the Djinn place for a scan, in case it helps them whatsoever.
[] Given them the 20 pounds of Void-jade we've found the last month.
They asked us for samples of Undead/Fey made by the Others, preferably alive.
The body of an actual Other, if a dead one, is likely gonna be a major step up for their game.
The Fey/Undead-thing as well, we just gotta get a tiiiny bit to grow a trophy out of.
It used to an Other, then it was sent fleshless and without form into exile as punishment for some failure or transgression and could only take physical form by stealing the bodies of the dead.
Emphasis mine.
I may be misconstructing what you're trying to say, but what I'm saying overall is "We've no time to Research into the Others right now, and not gonna to for a while, Let Djinn deal with it as much as we can".
Ergo, dumping this "interesting" stuff on them.
We've so far:
[] Dumped the Ice Heart on them.
[] Gave them the Winter-made bullshit talismans that grant Evasion or something, to reverse-engineer - not ready yet.
[] Had Rina work with them for a month - they got how to make the Ice Heart work at that point.
[] Had that Other-touched companion of Danelle's show up at the Djinn place for a scan, in case it helps them whatsoever.
[] Given them the 20 pounds of Void-jade we've found the last month.
They asked us for samples of Undead/Fey made by the Others, preferably alive.
The body of an actual Other, if a dead one, is likely gonna be a major step up for their game.
The Fey/Undead-thing as well, we just gotta get a tiiiny bit to grow a trophy out of.
It used to an Other, then it was sent fleshless and without form into exile as punishment for some failure or transgression and could only take physical form by stealing the bodies of the dead.
DP might have been referring to her soul painfully reverting to that divine soul soup (or "quintessence" in D&D terms) that all life and unlife springs from.
That said, @DragonParadox, this is reminiscent of Outsiders reforming on their native planes when by all rights that soul should have been sent straight back to the Void. It's so weird to see Fey with this ability, though I guess the Voidspawn regularly break all the rules.
You're right, we can do lots of things with the right spell. That said, I dream of having the ability in an item to do this without us spending spellslots. Giving this sort of thing to minions and freeing Companions up for other tasks would be amazing.
It's certainly not a priority, but damn if it would be amazingly convenient. Imagine a Moonchaser just vacuuming an entire swath of Wraiths.
I love how giants basically ganged up on crone. Few things scary then a gang of giants using their strength to full effect.
Crazy how summon apparently reached out to them like that and curious to see them interact with stone giants in Deep later since likely never met other giant-kin before.
I love how giants basically ganged up on crone. Few things scary then a gang of giants using their strength to full effect.
Crazy how summon apparently reached out to them like that and curious to see them interact with stone giants in Deep later since likely never met other giant-kin before.
I'm also really looking forward to that. Thus far there are three types of Giants in Sorcerer's Deep -- Stone Giant immigrants from the Plane of Earth, Fire Giant minions of Amrelath taken from the Plane of Fire, and a single Frost Giant mercenary from the Plane of Air who hasn't yet gone off to the Feywild with f!Renly.
There's also Hill Giants in the far east who are apparently the Jhogwin according to DP, but we haven't met them yet. And unlike the Westerosi Giants I suspect they were always unfortunately stunted in their intellect rather than having it taken away from them somehow.
That said, @DragonParadox, this is reminiscent of Outsiders reforming on their native planes when by all rights that soul should have been sent straight back to the Void. It's so weird to see Fey with this ability, though I guess the Voidspawn regularly break all the rules.
It's common for ghosts to take a slightly randomized amount of time until they can reform though.
See the simple ghost gets a chance to reform in a few days.
So this is more that, less Outsider respawn.
Edit: There are several incorporeal undead with a similar feature.
Guys i just had an epiphany while sleep deprived. So bear with me, why don't we just use the flesh forge to create humans with the sorcerer template and just increase their racial hit die, since we can just do that. Armies of sorcers and they would be cheap too.
The sword did not vanish into thin air when Rina's conjuring faded, but remained firmly in the grasp of a bewildered but clearly satisfied Mag Mar as his fellows look on with admiration approaching outright awe. Once before you had seen a conjuration leave behind enduring magics, when the spirit of innocence Vee conjured had laid its horn upon Waymar's blade still drenched in the blood of a mallor to forge the blade Purity.
As far as you have been able to discover about such events from both the memories of rapacious wyrms who coveted rare treasures and the arcane writings you have gathered for the Scholarum, empowering is rare and impossible to replicate no matter how many sages and enchanters have attempted to harness the process. The most commonly held hypothesis is that such creations of wild magic are forged from some fulcrum in history, deeds great and terrible that might in other circumstances birth spirits dark or bright, or allow mortals to mantle the power of their own legends.
A well woven hypothesis, though impossible to prove beyond reasonable doubt, but that does not seem to be quite what took place tonight. While the spirit that defiled the bones of Gilly's mother was no small threat, able to match Rina spell for spell and bind a full grown giant with a wave of her hand, it had not been one of the great lords and ladies of the Winter Court, not any more at least, an outcast doomed to wander the world trying to redress whatever transgression had seen them stripped of their physical form by their masters. It could certainly have killed Gilly and many giants besides, but armed with enchanted weapons and under the shadow of the banners they would have been able to crush it into the ground even if it had not been for the gift Mag received.
The fate of the future had not shifted, though perhaps an echo of the past was heard. 'Sword of Old Frost,' Mag called the blade, and indeed it is forged of blue ice of deepest glaciers just as Rina's armor is, though this is no dragonslayer's trophy. Four verses are etched into the ice, two on each side framing the star-shaped gap that Ser Richard tells you Oathkeeper is grumbling that 'no proper blacksmith would make'.
That which is broken beyond mending in memory endures
Hail to the Lords of the North, master of the clear airs
Weep for they are no more and in the tears know sooth
To the dead give death eternal children of our second youth
Tantalizing words, all the more so once Lya had actually puzzled out the runes in which they are inscribed rather than simply translating through sorcery. "It is Auran, the Tongue of Air, but it's not written in the same script the djinn use, see all the sharp lines? This is meant to be carved on stone."
"Or on ice as the blade is," you interject. An heirloom of a forgotten time then, just as you suspected. What did it mean that it had come into the world through Rina's magic, though not at her will?
You lay your hand upon the icy surface and try to send thoughts within as you do with Dark Sister, but there is only silence within as the cold wind hisses against the edge.
"I can hear it," Mag Mar says. "Not words only, soft whispers like wind over the mountains echoing in deep caves, high and deep and old."
Sword of Old Frost
Description: Forged of blue ice inscribed with verses in an elder script that nonetheless spell out familiar words in Auran, this sword was not forged of any mortal hand but gifted from the hand of dream and memory in the midst of battle. Though it does not seem to speak directly to its bearer just holding it seems to awaken some secret wisdom in the hands of any giant-kin, like a whisper at the edge of dreaming.
Abilities:
+4 Enchantment
Doubles the user's natural strength bonus for the purposes of using the weapon
+6 Wisdom for any wielder of giant-blood
Before you can reply you hear Dany in your mind, she sounds weary and as angry as you have ever heard her, but not horrified as she would be if your worst fears for the keep had come true. "Everyone here is alive and safe, physically at least, but I had to cast mind healing spells and there's more to be done than spells can manage. Something raised infantis to attack the 'keep'."
You taste bile in your mouth at the thought of that breed of undead, the tortured souls of children exposed and starved to death. Not even aware enough to be truly malicious, only seeking desperately the warmth and sustenance they had been denied in life. "Craster's children?"
"No, though I suspect someone wanted us to think so," she replies, obviously struggling for calm. "They certainly knew enough about Craster and his ways to do the most harm for the least effort."
What do you do next?
[] Investigate further
-[] Write in
[] Wait for the Moonchaser and the others and then resume your march to the Wall, you are done here
[] Write in
OOC: I thought about doing an interlude at Craster's Keep, but while harrowing it was not anything that would merit a proper vote.
That said, @DragonParadox, this is reminiscent of Outsiders reforming on their native planes when by all rights that soul should have been sent straight back to the Void. It's so weird to see Fey with this ability, though I guess the Voidspawn regularly break all the rules.
That which is broken beyond mending in memory endures
Hail to the Lords of the North, master of the clear airs
Weep for they are no more and in the tears know sooth
To the dead give death eternal children of our second youth
Description: Forged of blue ice inscribed with verses in an elder script that nonetheless spell out familiar words in auran, this word was not forged of any mortal hand but gifted from the hand of dream and memory in the midst of battle. Though it does not seems to speak directly to its bearer just holding it seems to awaken some secret wisdom in the hands of any giant-kin, like a whisper at the edge of dreaming.
Abilities:
+4 Enchantment
Doubtless the user's natural strength bonus for the purposes of using the weapon
God damn, that is cool and wonderfully thematic. @DragonParadox, are we able to enchant it further?
So from the verses, the Westerosi Giants seem to have been devolved in the Sundering (as we suspected) but calling this a second youth implies that they are bound to grow out of it
Also, @DragonParadox, how many survivors are we able to pull from Crastor's Keep?
Alright, which option will lead to us dropping this plot-thread as quickly as we can do so while staying in-character?
Can't, and won't, speak for anyone else, but at this point I'll take dealing with Westeros over this.
Agreed, the questline is winding down and more or less finished. We can revisit the points of interest Beyond the Wall when we aren't playing babysitter.
