Remove ads

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

Reader mode
Goldfish said:
So that would mean 10 per Moonchaser and 2 per Manticore, right?

Might as well knock out 40 of them for the Dauntless, too. Okay, we can handle that. I'll add 90 of them to next month's crafting schedule once I make it. Putting them in my notes now.
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...
It should also be added to the Manticores.

I'll update the Type-A and Dauntless designs and tell you the full sum, if you remind me during the turn-vote.
 
Vote closed.
Adhoc vote count started by DragonParadox on Aug 18, 2020 at 6:18 AM, finished with 74 posts and 9 votes.
  • [X] Try to salvage something of Jaelar's cult and and fold it into the inquisition's network of informers
    -[X] We will, of course, continue exercising extreme caution, including verifying that any surviving informants are reliable and have not been compromised.
    [X] Dany Level Up
    -[X] Class: +1 Dragonspeaker
    -[X] Feat: Residual Magic
    -[X] Skills (7 points): +1 Concentration, +1 Knowledge (Arcana), +1 Knowledge (Religion), +1 Sense Motive, +1 Spellcraft, +2 Knowledge (The Planes)
    [X] 2nd Month Retroactive Forge Order: Found HERE.
    -[X] Total Cost: 5,652,900 IM
    -[X] Corpse HD Expended: 194,208
    --[X] Corpse HD Remaining: 328,326
Click to expand...
 
Remove ads
Interlude DCCCLXXVI: To Catch a Rat
  • Threadmarks
    • To Catch a Rat ​

    Twenty Fifth Day of the Second Month 294 AC

    Over the next few days reports poured in from all across the Yellow City as shadows turned from spies to messengers, for the sky could not be trusted with ravens while devils still held sway. From the commissar down to the newest handler all the resources of the Inquisition were bent to salvaging as much of the cult of Meraxes as possible. Agents died bleeding in the gutters and inquisitorial squads operating far from the support of the empire were often gutted in confrontation with the new Unsullied and their infernal masters, though the latter always kept to the shadows and keeping their masks of humanity firmly affixed.

    As she followed the two assassins into another compromised safe house, the acrid coppery smell of old blood already in her nostrils, Anya could not help but wonder if this was all worth it. What were they hoping to find or to do? Did Lord Justice Vanor know something more about Meraxes and her agents than he had shared, or was it just that she was one of the Fourteen?

    The inquisitor tried to set the suspicion aside, the head of the Lawmen had never shown himself overly concerned with gods, Valryain or otherwise, callous perhaps but not careless, but it just wouldn't go away...

    Following the trail of blood they found the bodies in the kitchen, one fallen into the hearth surrounded by the smell of cooked meat, the second, an older man with a skewer lodged in his throat. Rats had already started to gather, drawn to a source of meat far more plentiful than the pantry. "Another write off," she sighed. "Be wary, they might still be..." A slow grating creak just on the edge of hearing cut through her thought. "What was that?"

    "We hear a great deal better than you human, there was no sound anywhere besides the inside of your own skull," the mage among her two 'companions' scoffed.

    Anya had been about to answer angrily, about how many lives their carelessness could cost, when it struck her. "Curse check me, now." She hoped it was only a curse, the alternative being that something had gotten inside her head.

    "I don't... Oh, something must have cast silently from under a veil. Well spotted mortal." He still sounded like he was congratulating a dog for having learned a new trick, but Anya kept her anger in check. Now that she knew it wasn't hers it was surprisingly easy, like building a wall in her mind or perhaps a damn in the face of a tide of black sludge.

    A wave rose in her mind, higher than any wall, and it tumbled over her. "I have to get away... get to safety.... get away...."

    She grasped the wall for balance, the porous stone rough under her fingers. "No," she rasped aloud. "No get out of my head."

    A sword of moonlight spun free from one of the brother's hands and striking a rat... leaving the creature far less wounded than it should have been, which was to say still alive. Anya cursed under her breath as she struggled with the presence in her mind. I can't put a manacle on a rat! But magic was not all that Anya could muster. Before the Inquisition, before Sorcerer's Deep, she had lived by her wits on the streets of Gulltown and her wits served her well. Grabbing a pot off the wall she slammed it atop the rat with all her strength, trapping it. The weight on her mind grew less.

    "We have your familiar," the drow mage who had held his spell spoke in smooth silky tones, less like an assassin and more as though whispering into a lover's ear. "You can come out and surrender, or you can wait and see what manner of havoc we can work upon you with it in our possession." He paused, a slow cruel smile coming to his lips. "Or you can come out and fight us, but I'm betting you wouldn't be playing this game if you thought you could take us."

    For a long moment there was silence save for the rat scratching at the inside of the pot, then a tall figure with corpse-pale skin and milky white eyes emerged from where it had been crouching inside the pantry. It could not have hidden in there long, but then of course it did not need to. Being a devil it could simply vanish and reappear in some place inside the house it had already searched while its familiar followed, wherever it could hide itself away among its kind. Rats were far from uncommon in Astapor for all there was less and less grain for men to eat.

    "And what guarantee do I have that you would honor parley?" he asked, too long a tongue coiling in its mouth like a knotted worm.

    What do the inquisitors reply?

    [] Point out that there are many devils in their lord's service and they are fairly treated

    [] Ask it to answer a few questions about its current master and circumstances and then it may be on its way, using its powers to hide its own treachery even in its own mind

    [] Don't waste time with diplomacy, try to capture it, it's the first greater devil they have spotted in five days

    OOC: For anyone wondering why the devil has a rat as a familiar and not a imp who can turn into a rat, but also a boar or wolf and has a host of other powers, it's because rats are more trustworthy.
     
    Last edited:
  • Threadmarks
    • DragonParadox said:
    To Catch a Rat ​

    Twenty Fifth Day of the Second Month 294 AC

    Over the next few days, reports poured in from all across the Yellow City as shadows turned from spies to messengers, for the sky could not be trusted with ravens while devils still held sway. From the commissar down to the newest handler, all the resources of the inquisition were bent to salvaging as much of the cult of Meraxes as possible. Agents died bleeding in the gutters and inquisitorial squads operating far from the support of the empire were often gutted in confrontation with the new Unsulled and their infernal masters, though the latter always kept to the shadows, keeping their masks of humanity firmly affixed.

    As she followed the two assassins into another compromised safehouse, the acrid coppery smell of old blood already in her nostrils, Anya could not help but wonder if this was all worth it. What were they hoping to find or to do? Did Lord Justice Vanor know something more about Meraxes and her agents than he had shared, or was it just that she was one of the Fourteen?

    The inquisitor tried to set the suspicion aside. The head of the Lawmen had never shown himself overly concerned with gods, Valyrian or otherwise. Callous perhaps though not careless, but it just wouldn't go away...

    Following the trail of blood they found the bodies in the kitchen, one fallen into the hearth surrounded by the smell of cooked meat, the second, an older man with a skewer lodged in his throat. Rats had already started to gather, drawn to a source of meat far more plentiful than the pantry. "Another write off," she sighed. "Be wary, they might still be..." A slow grating creak just on the edge of hearing cut through her thoughts. "What was that?"

    "We hear a great deal better than you humans. There was no sound anywhere besides the inside of your own skull," the mage among her two 'companions' scoffed.

    Anya had been about to answer angrily, about how many lives their carelessness could cost when it struck her. "Curse check me, now." She hoped it was only a curse, the alternative, if something had gotten inside her head.

    "I don't... Oh, something must have cast silently from under a veil. Well spotted, mortal." He still sounded like he was congratulating a dog for having learned a new trick, but Anya kept her anger in check. Now that she knew it wasn't hers, it was surprisingly easy, like building a wall in her mind or perhaps a damn in the face of a tide of black sludge.

    A wave rose in her mind higher than any wall and it tumbled over her. "I have to get away... get to safety.... get away...."

    She grasped the wall for balance, the porous stone rough under her fingers. "No," she rasped aloud. "No, get out of my head."

    A sword of moonlight spun free from one of the brother's hands, striking a rat... leaving the creature far less wounded than it should have been, which was to say still alive. Anya cursed under her breath as she struggled with the presence in her mind. I can't put a manacle on a rat! But magic was not all that Anya could muster. Before the inquisition, before Sorcerer's Deep, she had lived by her wits on the streets of Gulltown and her wits served her well, grabbing a pot off the wall she slammed it atop the rat with all her strength, trapping it. The weight on her mind grew less.

    "We have your familiar," the drow mage who had held his spell spoke in smooth silky tones, less like a threat and more as though whispering into a lover's ear. "You can come out and surrender or you can wait and see what manner of havoc we can work upon you with it in our possession." He paused, a slow cruel smile coming to his lips. "Or you can come out and fight us, but I'm betting you wouldn't be playing this game if you thought you could take us."

    For a long moment there was silence, save for the rat scratching at the inside of the pot, then a tall figure with corpse-pale skin and milky white eyes emerged from where it had been crouching inside the pantry. It could not have hidden in there long, but then of course it did not need to. Being a devil it could simply vanish and reappear in some place inside the house it had already searched, while its familiar followed, wherever it could hide itself away among its kind. Rats were far from uncommon in Astapor, for all there was less and less grain for men to eat.

    "And what guarantee do I have that you would honor parley?" he asked, too long tongue coiling in his mouth like a knotted worm.

    What do the inquisitors reply?

    [] Point out that there are many devils in their lord's service and they are fairly treated

    [] Ask it to answer a few questions about its current master and circumstances, and then it may be on its way, using its powers to hide its own treachery even in its own mind

    [] Don't waste time with diplomacy, try to capture it. It's the first greater devil they have spotted in five days

    OOC: For anyone wondering why the devil has a rat as a familiar and not a imp who can turn into a rat, but also a boar or wolf and has a host of other powers, it's because rats are more trustworthy. Not yet edited.
    Click to expand...
    Click to shrink...
    Here's an edited version of the chapter, DP.
     
    DragonParadox said:
    "I don't... Oh, something must have cast silently from under a veil. Well spotted mortal." He still sounded like he was congratulating a dog for having learned a new trick, but Anya kept her anger in check, now that she knew it wasn't hers it was surprisingly easy, like building a wall in her mind or perhaps a damn in the face of a tide of black sludge.

    A wave rose in her mind higher than any wall and it tumbled over her. "I have to get away... get to safety.... get away...."

    She grasped the wall for balance, the porous stone rough under her fingers. "No," she rasped aloud. "No get out of my head."
    Click to expand...
    Click to shrink...
    Oof. Poor Anya. Considering how it was we recruited her in the first place this must be like a waking nightmare.
     
    [X] Point out that there are many devils in their lord's service and they are fairly treated.
    -[X] Sure, you could regard them as mad for turning their backs on Baator, but we haven't exactly been losing this entire time, now have we? Maybe we're all equally mad in this game.
     
    Artemis1992 said:
    Yes we have recruited Devils, but none working for Asmodeus so far.
    Click to expand...
    Click to shrink...
    Recruited, yes, but if we give parlay we honor it across the board no matter what the other side is. We established that way back before we started recruiting Mammon devils, back when we dealt fairly with the devils we captured in the aftermath of the Cornugon in White Harbor.
    Archibald said:
    Can't we only break the connection to Baator for devils working for Mammon?
    Click to expand...
    Click to shrink...
    Yes. If we tried for breaking the connection to other Archdukes, they'd have a way to curse us via the Pact Primeval like Mammon almost did.
     
    Hey, I said nothing about recruitment. We also had minor dealings with Bel's lackeys in the past.

    All in the name of the game.
     
    [X] Crake

    We really should look into finding ways to break the pacts of the other archdukes.
     
    Crake said:
    An exception into the Pact ain't an easy loophole to find. We had to our written in.
    Click to expand...
    Click to shrink...
    True but aren't we starting to see diminishing returns from the Mammon devils, I fully expect the hells to try to close this particular route as soon as they can even at the cost of replacing Mammon, which is probably looking like a more favourable option as he continues to lose devils to us.
     
    F0lkL0re said:
    [X] Crake

    We really should look into finding ways to break the pacts of the other archdukes.
    Click to expand...
    Click to shrink...
    Not something I expect we'll ever be able to manage again. The circumstances of the first exception were extraordinary, to say the least.

    There are more than enough Devils in Mammon's service to meet our needs for now. Eventually we'll be able to form our own Outsiders and the need for Devil recruitment will drop.
     
    F0lkL0re said:
    True but aren't we starting to see diminishing returns from the Mammon devils, I fully expect the hells to try to close this particular route as soon as they can even at the cost of replacing Mammon, which is probably looking like a more favourable option as he continues to lose devils to us.
    Click to expand...
    Click to shrink...
    Unfortunately yes. :( I've been trying to think of a way to get as many Mammon Erinyes as possible, but I'm coming up blank.
     
    Duesal said:
    Unfortunately yes. :( I've been trying to think of a way to get as many Mammon Erinyes as possible, but I'm coming up blank.
    Click to expand...
    Click to shrink...
    The 47 we have now are great, especially Mereth, but with the development of the Watchman template and the massive order of servitors we're growing this month, the Erinyes are going to become much less important for security and bodyguard purposes.
     
    Goldfish said:
    The 47 we have now are great, especially Mereth, but with the development of the Watchman template and the massive order of servitors we're growing this month, the Erinyes are going to become much less important for security and bodyguard purposes.
    Click to expand...
    Click to shrink...
    It's less about not needing them and more about me wanting as many as we can get. I'm pretty frustrated by the bottleneck. Unfortunately True Names are a rare commodity.
     
    I'm sure we already asked our defectee Erinyes whether they have any likely co-workers willing to ditch Mammon and sign on with us :V
     
    Reader mode
    You must login or register to reply here.
    Remove ads
    Back
    Top