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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 Jun 9, 2020 at 1:07 PM, finished with 43 posts and 12 votes.
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Part MMMDXL: By Gears of Stone and Golden Wheels Turning
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    • By Gears of Stone and Golden Wheels Turning ​

    Twenty Fifth Day of the First Month 294 AC

    "Ten thousand," you match the opening bid quietly. You pause a moment and remark, keeping your tone light, "There seems to be a draft, though the air is still."

    Four pairs of eyes turn to probe the chamber's shadows with the combined skill of centuries and likely senses more arcane, though you cannot read the spells your fellow buyers may be bearing anymore than Varys can sense their minds, but it is your host who reacts most dramatically. A thousand eyes bubble to the surface of his faux-wood and metal form as the lid of his jaw snaps shut with a clang like steel on steel. A word not of any tongue of the Spheres slithers through the air and just as you suspected they could the shattered statues spring to life, though what animating spirits drive them to patrol you cannot say.

    The angel Elariel flinches in a faint rustle of his robes at the desecration of once holy icons, but he speaks only two words among the grinding and thunderous stomps. "Eleven thousand."

    Unsurprisingly given their earlier interest the crimson garbed shugenja presses their own bid, though without care for incremental steps. "Thirty thousand."

    Already three quarters of the way to your mental ceiling. Was the mage hoping to scare off the others with the bid, or did their pockets truly run that deep?

    "Thirty five thousand," the glided devil pressed, seemingly distracted. Still looking for something, you wonder... or upset at a compromised gambit. In this chamber filled with mysteries one thing you know for certain, the agents of the Lord of the Third would not be above claiming all the treasure in one fel sweep, paying nothing if they could do so without running afoul of the Lord General of Heaven's Shore.

    "Forty thousand," you press as far as you are willing to go.

    Then to your not inconsiderable surprise the spectral angel speaks again before the devil can: "Fifty thousand."

    The gilded devil's inhumanly handsome features twist into a far less pleasing manner, his eyes bright as furnace-fire. "Such uncommon wealth for one of your ilk. One wonders how you acquired it? Donations from generous souls perhaps?"

    Eschyr gives a sound he probably imagines to be clearing his throat, though it sounds more like a death rattle loud enough to leave echoes hanging in the air. "I am certain we will not be interrupted while within these wards. The next piece is this silver bound grimoire, the various poison springs and curses have already been disarmed, belonging to one of the preeminent spirit-binders of Nirvana, the only one known to have experimented with the spirits of those born Beyond the Spheres..." He chuckles an unfortunately wet sound. "Not that I can blame him, the Hegemony of the Mind can be rather forceful in its methods and would no doubt have done worse to him had they the chance, perhaps they did. Ar'Azil did vanish under mysterious circumstances, though fortunately much of his lore remains for those with the wherewithal to purchase it..."

    On the one hand you cannot see a purpose for such a thing within your immediate plans, but to be able to understand the Deep Ones down to their very souls could likely aid you in war against them. On a less martial note perhaps it would allow a swifter path to acceptance for those of the Far Realm who come in peace to experience the Spheres, but to not have the strength of mind and kindness of heart to face the trials Xor did.

    Third Piece on Offer: Ar'Azil's Grimoire: Allows experimentation with the souls of Far Realm beings, potentially including developing means of mind transfer and reincarnation across the divide.

    Asking Price: 36,000 IM

    Do you bid for it?

    [] Yes
    -[] How high

    [] No, observe the other participants and perhaps the mysterious guest for now

    OOC: So yeah I'm doing these one at a time for now, hopefully it's not too slow, going. If you guys would prefer a faster clip I can try to work out another way for the rest.
     
    Last edited:
  • Threadmarks
    • Ohh, very shiny and useful for us. Is the knowledge within one of a kind or would Xor be able to replicate it if given assistance from renegade Farspawn?
     
    [X] No, observe the other participants and perhaps the mysterious guest for now

    I don't think we need this overly much. Better focus in trying to see if someone's about to heist us off.
     
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    [X] No, observe the other participants and perhaps the mysterious guest for now
     
    DragonParadox said:
    By Gears of Stone and Golden Wheels Turning ​

    Twenty Fifth Day of the First Month 294 AC

    "Ten thousand," you match the opening bid quietly. You pause a moment and, keeping your tone light, remark, "There seems to be a draft, though the air is still."

    Four pairs of eyes turn to probe the chamber's shadows with the combined skill of centuries and likely senses more arcane, though you cannot read the spells your fellow buyers may be bearing anymore than Varys can sense their minds, but it is your host who reacts most dramatically. A thousand eyes bubble to the surface of his faux-wood and metal form as the lid of his jaw snaps shut with a clang like steel on steel. A word not of any tongue of the Spheres slithers through the air and, just as you suspected they could, the shattered statues spring to life, though what animating spirits drive them to patrol you cannot say.

    The angel Elariel flinches in a faint rustle of his robes at the desecration of once holly icons, but he speaks only two words among the grinding and thunderous stomps. "Eleven thousand."

    Unsurprisingly given their earlier interest, the crimson-garbed shugenja presses their own bid, though without care for incremental steps. "Thirty thousand."

    Already three quarters of the way to your mental ceiling. Was the mage hoping to scare off the others with the bid or did their pockets truly run that deep?

    "Thirty five thousand," the glided devil pressed, seemingly distracted. Still looking for something, you wonder... or upset at a compromised gambit. One thing you know for certain in this chamber filled with mysteries, the agents of the Lord of the Third would not be above claiming all the treasure in one sweep, paying nothing if they could do so without running afoul of the Lord General of Heaven's Shore.

    "Forty thousand," you press as far as you are willing to go.

    Then, to your not inconsiderable surprise, the spectral angel speaks again before the devil can, "Fifty thousand."

    The gilded devil's inhumanly handsome features twist into a far less pleasing manner, his eyes bright as furnace-fire. "Such uncommon wealth for one of your ilk. One wonders how you acquired it? Donations from generous souls, perhaps?"

    Eschyr gives a sound he probably imagines to be clearing his throat, though it sounds more like a death rattle loud enough to leave echoes hanging in the air. "I am certain we will not be interrupted while within these wards. The next piece is this silver bound grimoire, the various poison traps and curses have already been disarmed, belonging to one of the preeminent spirit-binders of Nirvana, the only one known to have experimented with the spirits of those born Beyond the Spheres..." He chuckles, an unfortunately wet sound. "Not that I can blame him, the Hegemony of the Mind can be rather forceful in its methods and would no doubt have done worse to him had they the chance. Perhaps they di?. Ar'Azil did vanish under mysterious circumstances, though fortunately much of his lore remains for those with the wherewithal to purchase it..."

    On the one hand, you cannot see a purpose for such a thing within your immediate plans, but to be able to understand the Deep Ones down to their very souls could likely aid you in war against them. On a less martial note, perhaps it would allow a swifter path to acceptance for those of the Far Realm who come in peace to experience the spheres, but do not have the strength of mind and kindness of heart to face the trials Xor did.

    Third Piece on Offer: Ar'Azil's Grimoire: Allows experimentation with the souls of Far Realm beings, potentially including developing means of mind transfer and reincarnation across the divide.

    Asking Price: 36,000 IM

    Do you bid for it?

    [] Yes
    -[] How high

    [] No, observe the other participants and perhaps the mysterious guest for now

    OOC: So yeah, I'm doing these one at a time for now. Hopefully it's not too slow going. If you guys would prefer a faster clip I can try to work out another way for the rest. Not yet edited.
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    Here's an edited version of the chapter, DP.

    I don't mind seeing each piece in its own chapter. Leaves room for more detail on our fellow auction participants and doesn't floss over interesting stuff about the items being bid on.
     
    I think we've already established that we're serious bidders, not to mention calling attention to ourselves by alerting the gathering to the unseen guest, so sitting out for this item doesn't seem like an issue. Would also prefer to have most of our attention focused toward discerning more of the interloper or responding to any surprise attacks.

    Like the Gilded Devil, however, I'm very interested in how the Angel gathered such wealth. I think it's the front being for what will eventually be an attempted raid on the auction.

    [X] No, observe the other participants and perhaps the mysterious guest for now
     
    Artemis1992 said:
    @Goldfish
    Could we cast Blindsight on Viserys or Varys?
    That way we would at least know for sure if someone came close to us.
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    Superior Invisibility beats Blindsight, plus even the Greater Blindsight has a much shorter range than True Seeing.

    The best bet would be to put up an outward facing Wall of Greater Dispel Magic at our backs, but doing so could be provocative.
     
    Goldfish said:
    Superior Invisibility beats Blindsight, plus even the Greater Blindsight has a much shorter range than True Seeing.

    The best bet would be to put up an outward facing Wall of Greater Dispel Magic at our backs, but doing so could be provocative.
    Click to expand...
    Click to shrink...
    Just ready an action. Literally any spell in our repertoire. Lack of a surprise round can seriously fuck over an ambush when you are expecting it and have access to any spell appropriate for the situation.
     
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