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

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Interlude DCCCXCII: Enduring Works
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    • Enduring Works ​

    Twenty Ninth Day of the Second Month 294 AC

    Alinor was not a hero of any description, she was not a wizard delving into half forgotten lore nor a sorcerer-priest whose faith could move mountains for all she had conversed and kept company with all of them. Hers was an empire of ink and parchment, ink and paper more and more by the day, and in this she was content. She had taken up the mantle of Head Clerk when the Deep was little more than a pirate's nest wrecked by a madman, when she had been leader by reason of being alone in the honor.

    In that time she had seen projects so vast as to almost beggar the imagination set down before her; bridges to span the roiling sea, rebuild vast swaths of cities and cut roads across contents, even seen Drowned Town drained which until not so long ago was a byword for the 'impossible' in her native Braavos, yet she had never read a report quite like this before in her life. "What do you mean the sanitation system in Mantarys is half done? It was supposed to take half a year longer by optimistic estimates." She noted to her tinny golden assistant, wondering if all this was some sort of odd jest.

    "While a pair engineers from the Academy here in the Deep were going through the old archives for plans of Mantarys before the Doom they made a remarkable discovery," it hissed excitedly. "It would appear much of the most difficult work is already done, mistress..."

    "They discovered a hidden sewage system?" Alinor asked, still not quite able to believe that was on the paper. Maybe this was what it felt like to find some strange arcane treasure in a long forgotten tomb, only it was of far greater use to more people.

    It did make a bit more sense as she read through the accounts. Much of Mantarys' water and sanitation system was sank deep into the bedrock, cisterns and channels leading to an underground river that wound its way into the Sea of Sighs without seeing the light of day. As one of the border cities of Valyria proper its youth had it designed to withstand siege and sabotage. However, as the city's population crashed in the aftermath of the Doom, less was needed to cater to it and the leaders of the day did not care to look beyond caved in tunnels leading deeper. They had more urgent matters to attend to like keeping their heads as the Century of Blood wore on.

    The records, much like the tunnels themselves, had been lost and forgotten until the recent expansion had engineers looking into implementing new solutions to old problems only to find their job half done.

    Construct Sanitation Systems in Mantarys (10/65) -> Critical Success -> +20 Progress (30/65)
    Investigate Enemy Spies in Mantarys -> None Found
    Establish Inquisition Base in Runestone (11/10) -> Complete
    Construct Sanitation Systems in Painted Mountains (7/6) -> Complete
    Expand Law Enforcement in Draconys( 39/35) -> Complete
    Construct Sanitation Systems in Tolos (9/83)
    Investigate Enemy Spies in Tolos -> None Found

    OOC: Felt like doing a third part today but there was noting to do a vote on, so here's an interlude. Previous vote still open.
     
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    • Neat. Just out of curiosity, the Valyrias did use our magical sewage treatment system or they thought it was too much of a bother?

    They could probably find archeological evidence in Lys and other places if they used it.
     
    DragonParadox said:
    Enduring Works ​

    Twenty Ninth Day of the Second Month 294 AC

    Alinor was not a hero of any description, she was not a wizard delving into half forgotten lore nor a sorcerer-priest whose faith could move mountains for all she had conversed and kept company with all of them. Hers was an empire of ink and parchment, ink and paper more and more by the day and in this she was content. She had taken up the mantle of Head Clerk when the Deep was little more than a pirate's nest wrecked by a madman, when she had been leader by treason of being alone in the honor.

    In that time she had seen projects so vast as to almost beggar the imagination set down before her, bridges to span the roiling sea, rebuild vast swaths of cities and cut roads across contents, even seen Drowned Town drained which until not so long ago was a by word for the 'impossible' in her native Braavos, yet she had never read a report quite like this before in her life. "What do you mean the sanitation system in Mantarys is half done? It was supposed to take half a year longer by optimistic estimates." She noted to her tinny golden assistant, wondering if all this was some sort of odd jest.

    "While a pair engineers from the Academy here in the Deep were going though the old archives for plans of Mantarys before the Doom they made a remarkable discovery," it hissed excitedly. "It would appear much of the most difficult work is already done mistress..."

    "They discovered a hidden sewage system?" Alinor asked, still not quite able to believe that was on the appear. Maybe this was what it felt like to find some strange arcane treasure in a long forgotten tomb. Only it was of greater use to more people.

    It did make a bit more sense as she read though the accounts. Much of Mantarys' water and sanitation system was sank deep into the bedrock, cisterns and channels leading to an underground river that wound its way into the Sea of Sighs without seeing the light of day. As one of he border cities of Valyria proper it its youth it had been designed to withstand siege and sabotage. However as the city's population crashed in the aftermath of the Doom less was needed to cater to it and the leaders of the day did not care to look beyond caved in tunnels leading deeper. They had more urgent matters to attend to like keeping their heads as the Century of Blood wore on.

    The records, much like the tunnels themselves had been lost and forgotten until the recent expansion had engineers looking into implementing new solutions to old problems only to find their job half done.

    Construct Sanitation Systems in Mantarys (10/65) -> Critical Success -> +20 Progress (30/65)
    Investigate Enemy Spies in Mantarys -> None Found
    Establish Inquisition Base in Runestone (11/10) -> Complete
    Construct Sanitation Systems in Painted Mountains (7/6)
    Expand Law Enforcement in Draconys( 39/35) -> Complete
    Construct Sanitation Systems in Tolos (9/83)
    Investigate Enemy Spies in Tolos -> None Found

    OOC: Felt like doing a third part today but there was noting to do a vote on, so here's and interlude, previous vote still open. Not yet edited.
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    Been awhile since Alinor leveled up. :ogles:
     
    Considering the stuff she needs to deal with on a daily basis, and the fact that she have a cabinet of liquor for medical purposes, I think she qualifies for the necessary trauma for higher levels, if only as an expert.
     
    Enduring Works ​

    Twenty Ninth Day of the Second Month 294 AC

    Alinor was not a hero of any description, she was not a wizard delving into half-forgotten lore nor a sorcerer-priest whose faith could move mountains for all she had conversed and kept company with all of them. Hers was an empire of ink and parchment, ink and paper more and more by the day, and in this she was content. She had taken up the mantle of Head Clerk when the Deep was little more than a pirate's nest wrecked by a madman, when she had been leader by reason of being alone in the honor.

    In that time she had seen projects so vast as to almost beggar the imagination set down before her, bridges to span the roiling sea, rebuilding vast swaths of cities and cut roads across contents, even seen Drowned Town drained, which until not so long ago was a by word for the 'impossible' in her native Braavos, yet she had never read a report quite like this before in her life. "What do you mean that the sanitation system in Mantarys is half done? It was supposed to take half a year longer by optimistic estimates." She noted to her tiny golden assistant, wondering if all this was some sort of odd jest.

    "While a pair engineers from the Academy here in the Deep were going through the old archives for plans of Mantarys before the Doom, they made a remarkable discovery," it hissed excitedly. "It would appear much of the most difficult work is already done mistress..."

    "They discovered a hidden sewage system?" Alinor asked, still not quite able to believe what was on the appear. Maybe this was what it felt like to find some strange arcane treasure in a long forgotten tomb. Only it was of greater use to more people.

    It did make a bit more sense as she read though the accounts. Much of Mantarys' water and sanitation system was sunk deep into the bedrock, cisterns and channels leading to an underground river that wound its way into the Sea of Sighs without seeing the light of day. As one of he border cities of Valyria proper, in its youth it had been designed to withstand siege and sabotage. However, as the city's population crashed in the aftermath of the Doom, less was needed to cater to it and the leaders of the day did not care to look beyond caved in tunnels leading deeper. They had more urgent matters to attend to, like keeping their heads as the Century of Blood wore on.

    The records, much like the tunnels themselves, had been lost and forgotten until the recent expansion had engineers looking into implementing new solutions to old problems, only to find their job half done.

    Construct Sanitation Systems in Mantarys (10/65) -> Critical Success -> +20 Progress (30/65)
    Investigate Enemy Spies in Mantarys -> None Found
    Establish Inquisition Base in Runestone (11/10) -> Complete
    Construct Sanitation Systems in Painted Mountains (7/6)
    Expand Law Enforcement in Draconys( 39/35) -> Complete
    Construct Sanitation Systems in Tolos (9/83)
    Investigate Enemy Spies in Tolos -> None Found

    OOC: Felt like doing a third part today but there was noting to do a vote on, so here's and interlude, previous vote still open. Not yet edited.
    Here's an edited version of the chapter, @DragonParadox.
     
    Goldfish said:
    Enduring Works ​

    Twenty Ninth Day of the Second Month 294 AC

    Alinor was not a hero of any description, she was not a wizard delving into half-forgotten lore nor a sorcerer-priest whose faith could move mountains for all she had conversed and kept company with all of them. Hers was an empire of ink and parchment, ink and paper more and more by the day, and in this she was content. She had taken up the mantle of Head Clerk when the Deep was little more than a pirate's nest wrecked by a madman, when she had been leader by reason of being alone in the honor.

    In that time she had seen projects so vast as to almost beggar the imagination set down before her, bridges to span the roiling sea, rebuilding vast swaths of cities and cut roads across contents, even seen Drowned Town drained, which until not so long ago was a by word for the 'impossible' in her native Braavos, yet she had never read a report quite like this before in her life. "What do you mean that the sanitation system in Mantarys is half done? It was supposed to take half a year longer by optimistic estimates." She noted to her tiny golden assistant, wondering if all this was some sort of odd jest.

    "While a pair engineers from the Academy here in the Deep were going through the old archives for plans of Mantarys before the Doom, they made a remarkable discovery," it hissed excitedly. "It would appear much of the most difficult work is already done mistress..."

    "They discovered a hidden sewage system?" Alinor asked, still not quite able to believe what was on the appear. Maybe this was what it felt like to find some strange arcane treasure in a long forgotten tomb. Only it was of greater use to more people.

    It did make a bit more sense as she read though the accounts. Much of Mantarys' water and sanitation system was sunk deep into the bedrock, cisterns and channels leading to an underground river that wound its way into the Sea of Sighs without seeing the light of day. As one of he border cities of Valyria proper, in its youth it had been designed to withstand siege and sabotage. However, as the city's population crashed in the aftermath of the Doom, less was needed to cater to it and the leaders of the day did not care to look beyond caved in tunnels leading deeper. They had more urgent matters to attend to, like keeping their heads as the Century of Blood wore on.

    The records, much like the tunnels themselves, had been lost and forgotten until the recent expansion had engineers looking into implementing new solutions to old problems, only to find their job half done.

    Construct Sanitation Systems in Mantarys (10/65) -> Critical Success -> +20 Progress (30/65)
    Investigate Enemy Spies in Mantarys -> None Found
    Establish Inquisition Base in Runestone (11/10) -> Complete
    Construct Sanitation Systems in Painted Mountains (7/6)
    Expand Law Enforcement in Draconys( 39/35) -> Complete
    Construct Sanitation Systems in Tolos (9/83)
    Investigate Enemy Spies in Tolos -> None Found

    OOC: Felt like doing a third part today but there was noting to do a vote on, so here's and interlude, previous vote still open. Not yet edited.
    Here's an edited version of the chapter, @DragonParadox.
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    As a starting goal, two more for each major city would be nice. One for a Broadcasting Company I want to create (each placed in a large theater) and another which does a 24/7 news cycle or emergency broadcasts in public space. The original ones assigned will largely be used for bread and circuses (Serialized Mirror Plays, etc.) and the like.

    The Broadcasting company will allow smaller playhouses to serialize their own works and increase their popularity around the Imperium AND advertising. The other one is of course for nonstop propaganda. And the first is of course for entertaining the masses.

    Eventually we will hopefully get them cheap enough to where we can plant one in each home.
     
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    Crake said:
    As a starting goal, two more for each major city would be nice. One for a Broadcasting Company I want to create (each placed in a large theater) and another which does a 24/7 news cycle or emergency broadcasts in public space. The original ones assigned will largely be used for bread and circuses (Serialized Mirror Plays, etc.) and the like.

    The Broadcasting company will allow smaller playhouses to serialize their own works and increase their popularity around the Imperium AND advertising. The other one is of course for nonstop propaganda. And the first is of course for entertaining the masses.

    Eventually we will hopefully get them cheap enough to where we can plant one in each home.
    Click to expand...
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    Just tell me how many we need in total and I'll squeeze as many of them into the crafting schedule as I can manage.

    I don't know if we'll ever be able to get the costs down that much, not for a real MirrorVision, but I was thinking about a much simpler device, one that uses only the Silent Image and Ghost Sound spells, that could replay MirrorVision recordings made in Serpentstone. Those would only cost 315 IM each. That's still expensive for every day consumers, but much cheaper than a MirrorVision.

    Some people could afford them for their homes, but they would also be very practical for smaller venues, such as theaters and clubs.

    Establishing the necessary infrastructure to mass produce Serpentstone recordings shouldn't be too difficult or expensive.
     
    Goldfish said:
    Just tell me how many we need in total and I'll squeeze as many of them into the crafting schedule as I can manage.

    I don't know if we'll ever be able to get the costs down that much, not for a real MirrorVision, but I was thinking about a much simpler device, one that uses only the Silent Image and Ghost Sound spells, that could replay MirrorVision recordings made in Serpentstone. Those would only cost 315 IM each. That's still expensive for every day consumers, but much cheaper than a MirrorVision.

    Some people could afford them for their homes, but they would also be very practical for smaller venues, such as theaters and clubs.

    Establishing the necessary infrastructure to mass produce Serpentstone recordings shouldn't be too difficult or expensive.
    Click to expand...
    Click to shrink...
    If we can miniaturize and mass produce them enough that upper-middle class homes and most public venues/gathering areas could have a smaller Mirror Vision playing, that would be enough for me. It might even be ideal.
     
    Crake said:
    @Goldfish Wanna toss in Alinor's level-up to your vote? It's pretty straight forward.
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    Adding a level up plan for Alinor to my vote, ya'll. Looking over the skills on her character sheet, it became obvious that she was missing a lot of points and some totals were off. This will rejigger everything to be correct for a 7th level Expert. I didn't remove any skills or points she should have already had, but she ended up with a bunch of additional points that had never been allocated. That let me give her maximum points in Sense Motive, plus 6 points in Knowledge (Law) and Knowledge (Economics).

    Alinor is also severely undergeared. It's not combat equipment that is lacking, but skill boosters and attribute enhancers. I'm going to add a round of serious upgrades to her gear into the crafting schedule for next month.

    [] Alinor Level Up
    -[] Class: +1 Expert
    -[] Skill Rebuild Due to Inaccurate Sheet (94 points): +10 Bluff, +10 Diplomacy, +6 Knowledge (Economics), +6 Knowledge (History), +6 Knowledge (Law), +10 Knowledge (Local, Stepstones), +10 Knowledge (Mathematics), +8 Knowledge (Nobility & Royalty), +4 Listen, +10 Profession (Management), +10 Sense Motive, +4 Spot

    BTW, @Crake, a MirrorVision costs 2,880 IM. At 315 IM each, we could produce 9 of the less sophisticated playback only units for that price. I think that will be the way to go, once we get some numbers on what it will take to build a mass production facility for Serpentstone recordings and recording devices.
     
    ... so is Alinor technically the highest ranking member of her entire social class as defined in the imperial constitution? More importantly, has anyone pointed that out to her? She's used to having access to power through her job, but she so rarely seems to interact with people outside of her official position or close friend group that it might not have really sunk in yet.

    It'd be kind of great if she didn't clue in until after the bureaucrats started forming a collective social identity that she becomes default pope of. :V
     
    BronzeTongue said:
    ... so is Alinor technically the highest ranking member of her entire social class as defined in the imperial constitution? More importantly, has anyone pointed that out to her? She's used to having access to power through her job, but she so rarely seems to interact with people outside of her official position or close friend group that it might not have really sunk in yet.

    It'd be kind of great if she didn't clue in until after the bureaucrats started forming a collective social identity that she becomes default pope of. :V
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    Not technically. She is.

    She wields vast powers, which accompanies vast responsibilities. That doesn't technically equate to more work, but she does take on more work as a consequence, apparently working long into the night.

    This is a fact that is not lost on most of the upper-echelons of the Administration. Many people in the Deep work overtime, but then that wears away at them less due to magical blessings on the island.

    One could say Alinor takes on the 'boring' aspects of the Vizier role that the Genies seem to have, which combines Spymaster and chief aide in one.

    Garin takes on the other half of that.

    Edit: To put it into perspective, kinda, she's formally the leader of Sorcerer's Deep's entire Administration, and the formal head of her entire Bureau across the Imperium.

    The reporting mechanisms aren't directly to her though. The local Administration usually reports to the local ruler, and the local ruler reports to their overlord, and their overlord usually reports to us.
     
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    Crake said:
    Not technically. She is.

    She wields vast powers, which accompanies vast responsibilities. That doesn't technically equate to more work, but she does take on more work as a consequence, apparently working long into the night.

    This is a fact that is not lost on most of the upper-echelons of the Administration. Many people in the Deep work overtime, but then that wears away at them less due to magical blessings on the island.

    One could say Alinor takes on the 'boring' aspects of the Vizier role that the Genies seem to have, which combines Spymaster and chief aide in one.

    Garin takes on the other half of that.

    Edit: To put it into perspective, kinda, she's formally the leader of Sorcerer's Deep's entire Administration, and the formal head of her entire Bureau across the Imperium.

    The reporting mechanisms aren't directly to her though. The local Administration usually reports to the local ruler, and the local ruler reports to their overlord, and their overlord usually reports to us.
    Click to expand...
    Click to shrink...
    I meant more in the aspect of the social rank affiliated with her position rather than the powers Alinor's job affords her. In the same way that a duke derives a certain social importance from their job that is heavily dependent on it, but in many ways exceeds their official abilities. Especially in terms of respect, perception, and personal expectations.

    There isn't much of a cultural institution for the gentry, but once it develops some more she'll be in the somewhat unique position of being the undisputed highest ranking member of her peer group. It's going to make her life interesting as the Imperium matures and it's official structure starts shaping the existing culture.
     
    Crake said:
    Not technically. She is.

    She wields vast powers, which accompanies vast responsibilities. That doesn't technically equate to more work, but she does take on more work as a consequence, apparently working long into the night.

    This is a fact that is not lost on most of the upper-echelons of the Administration. Many people in the Deep work overtime, but then that wears away at them less due to magical blessings on the island.

    One could say Alinor takes on the 'boring' aspects of the Vizier role that the Genies seem to have, which combines Spymaster and chief aide in one.

    Garin takes on the other half of that.

    Edit: To put it into perspective, kinda, she's formally the leader of Sorcerer's Deep's entire Administration, and the formal head of her entire Bureau across the Imperium.

    The reporting mechanisms aren't directly to her though. The local Administration usually reports to the local ruler, and the local ruler reports to their overlord, and their overlord usually reports to us.
    Click to expand...
    Click to shrink...
    Hands down. Great woman.
     
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