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

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Winning vote
Adhoc vote count started by DragonParadox on Oct 17, 2020 at 3:26 PM, finished with 68 posts and 21 votes.
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Part MMMDCLXXII: Chasing Shadows
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    • Chasing Shadows ​

    Ninth Day of the Third Month 294 AC

    Inhaling your own soul, or the piece of it the shadow merchant sliced off at least, feels at first like you are suffocating. The shadow-stuff with barely any weight upon the hands is like boiling tar poured into your lungs. Images flash before your your mind's eye almost faster than you can take them in.

    Ser Richard kneeling in the broken tower as the first of your knights, the first time you truly felt a king... Meeting Lya by the Moon Pool, the joy of magic shared, of companionship in a strange world... The fight at Drekelis manse, fear of death and triumph of victory all in one, worry about Garin choosing Wyla over your new-forged friendship... The hope of forging a new realm in the Stepstones, the looming terror of Mantarys and the unknown. Above all else the fear for your sister's choice in serving Tiamat, the guilt of having died and left her to make it.

    The memories in the shadow are yours, the power also, but it is not you, like a branch sliced off from a growing tree it has remained the same while you have changed. You still, no longer trying to swallow it whole, then slowly begin to pick it apart, thread by thread and memory by memory, fears laid to rest and hopes realized. For some of the former and many of the latter you cannot say the same, but still as tangled as the path can still look beneath your feet you still have worthy companions beside you, more than you had then and you have made a good start.

    You open your hands and see them clear of the living shadow you had wrapped around them.

    Viserys Gains 5,000 XP

    The Orphne Lord, already stroking and getting the measure of his new mount, gives no indication of being surprised by the process. How much does he and his court know about manipulating souls? you wonder not for the first time. Can they just slice them off as tokens, reagents to be woven into their magics, or could they shape and harvest them to some other cause? Not that you have any objection to how Yss has helped you in such tasks, but if the last few years have taught you anything about sorcery it is that one can never go amiss having another perspective of its use.

    "I would speak to you on a few other matters before the day is out, my lord," you say, expecting to be lead into some deeper hall.

    Instead the fey lord calls for one of his subjects to harness his steed with threads of True Silver and offers graciously: "Let us fly then and hunt if fortune favors us."

    ***​

    The moon is bright as a silver pearl among the twinkling stars, the Ice Dragon just dipping over the horizon as you take to the air. You will take that as a good omen. "How easily can your subjects separate souls and what can be wrought of them?"

    "Only upon the willing will such magics work and only one part in nine of their souls may we safely claim," he replies, voice as clear as if you were still in the depths of his hall in spite of the rushing wind. "As to what might be made of them, ensouled enchantments can be forged and ink drawn from it can forge thinking books that hold a measure of the progenitor's knowledge. They can be used to empower wards and even create guardian spirits that in the fullness of time might become fey themselves."

    The fey lord pauses for a moment, looking at the gleam of the moonlight among the reeds below. "We do not often claim such a boon and rarely from those particularly devout, for gods take ill to hosting in their hall a soul that left a shard of itself upon the mortal world, even if the severed portion has long since healed."

    The last admission must have left a bitter taste in his mouth, so you do not press, merely consigning what you have learned of the skill to memory and setting your thoughts upon the flight and the brief hunt that follows in some of the more perilous parts of the marshes. Boars have no business growing that large, much less possessing tusks that can pierce adamantine.

    You split the kill amiably. The fey lord claims the hide to make new armor from it while his new mount happily devours the flesh. You, meanwhile, keep the head as a trophy in honor of dealing the killing blow.

    Razor Boar Trophy Gained (can be sacrificed in the Flesh Forge for the equivalent of 7 HD; CR 11)

    "I do hope such beasts are not common, even in remote parts of the marshes," you interject, looking down at the snarling visage of the obviously magic-touched beast. Verdant Vistas has been poking through such remote corners for years.

    "I've seen the like and even a few more impressive beasts, but not often. We were lucky tonight," comes the response, not quite what you had hoped for but better than you feared.

    What next?

    [] Write in

    OOC: The magic boar was brought to you by one of the new encounter tables for various corners of the Empire. Also a chance to show Viserys spending a bit of time socializing with non-Companions important to the Empire.
     
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  • Threadmarks
    • DragonParadox said:
    You split the kill amiably. The fey lord claims the hide to make new armor from while his new mount happily devours the flesh while you keep the head as a trophy in honor of dealing the killing blow.

    Razor Boar Trophy Gained (can be sacrificed in the forge for the equivalent of 7 HD CR 11)
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    This would make a nice display in some wing of the palace beyond the Hall of Horrors.
     
    DragonParadox said:
    Mortal souls have to develop naturally. You can give them trials to sink or swim, but you can't just declare someone level 20 and try to squeeze miracle and True Resurrection through them.
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    So an Outsider with 9th Level spells is like putting together a talking sports car, but getting a human cleric to level 20 is more like tending to a bonsai tree.
     
    DragonParadox said:
    Chasing Shadows ​

    Ninth Day of the Third Month 294 AC

    Inhaling your own soul, or the piece of it the shadow merchant sliced off at least, feels at first like you are suffocating. The shadow-stuff with barely any weight upon the hands is like boiling tar poured into your lungs. Images flash before your your mind's eye almost faster than you can take them in.

    Ser Richard kneeling in the broken tower, the first of your knights. The first time you truly felt like a king... Meeting Lya by the Moon Pool, the joy of magic shared, of companionship in a strange world... The fight at Drekelis manse, fear of death and triumph of victory all in one, worry about Garin choosing Wyla over your new-forged friendship... The hope of forging a new realm in the Stepstones, the looming terror of Mantarys and the unknown. Above all else, the fear for your sister's choice in serving Tiamat, the guilt of having died and left her to make it.

    The memories in the shadow are yours, the power also, but it is not you, like a branch sliced off from a growing tree, it has remained the same while you have changed. You still, no longer trying to swallow it whole then slowly begin to pick it apart, thread by thread and memory by memory, fears laid to rest and hopes realized. For some of the former and many of the latter you cannot say the same, but as tangled as the path can still look beneath your feet, you still have worthy companions beside you, more than you had then and you have made a good start.

    You open your hands and see them clear of the living shadow you had wrapped around them.

    Viserys Gains 5,000 XP

    The Orphne Lord, already stroking and getting the measure of his new mount, gives no indication of being surprised by the process. How much does he and his court know about manipulating souls? you wonder, not for the first time. Can they just slice them off as tokens, reagents to be woven into their magics, or could they shape and harvest them to some other cause? Not that you have any objection to how Yss has helped you in such tasks, but if the last few years have taught you anything about sorcery, it is that one can never go amiss having another perspective of its use.

    "I would speak to you on a few other matters before the day is out, my lord," you say, expecting to be lead into some deeper hall.

    Instead, the fey lord calls for one of his subjects to harness his steed with threads of True Silver and offers graciously, "Let us fly then and hunt, if fortune favors us."

    ***​

    The moon is bright as a silver pearl among the twinkling stars, the Ice Dragon just dipping over the horizon as you take to the air. You will take that as a good omen. "How easily can your subjects separate souls, and what can be wrought of them?"

    "Only upon the willing do such magics work, and only one part in nine of their souls may we safely claim," he replies, voice as clear as if you were still in the depths of his hall in spite of the rushing wind. "As to what might be made of them, ensouled enchantments can be forged and ink drawn from it can forge thinking books that hold a measure of the progenitor's knowledge. They can be used to empower wards and even create guardian spirits that in the fullness of time might become fey themselves."

    The fey lord pauses for a moment looking at the gleam of the moonlight among the reeds below. "We do not often claim such a boon and rarely from those particularly devout, for gods take ill to hosting in their hall any soul that left a shard of itself upon the mortal world, even if the severed portion has long since healed."

    The last admission must have left a bitter taste in his mouth, so you do not press, merely consigning what you have learned of the skill to memory and setting your thoughts upon the flight and the brief hunt that follows in some of the more perilous parts of the marshes. Boars have no business growing that large, much less possessing tusks that can pierce adamantine.

    You split the kill amiably. The fey lord claims the hide to make new armor from and his new mount happily devours the flesh, while you keep the head as a trophy in honor of dealing the killing blow.

    Razor Boar Trophy Gained (can be sacrificed in the forge for the equivalent of 7 HD CR 11)

    "I do hope such beasts are not common, even in remote parts of the marshes," you interject, looking down at the snarling visage of the obviously magic-touched beast. Verdant Vistas has been poking through such remote corners for years.

    "I've seen the like and even a few more impressive beasts, but not often. We were lucky tonight," comes the response, not quite what you had hoped for but better than you feared.

    What next?

    [] Write in

    OOC: The magic boar brought to you by one of the new encounter tables for various corners of the empire. Also a chance to show Viserys spending a bit of time socializing with non-Companions important to the Empire. Not yet edited.
    Click to expand...
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    Here's an edited version of the chapter, DP.
     
    DragonParadox said:
    Pretty much yeah, with the caveat that to make powerful outsiders you need petitioners who were devout and strong souled in life.
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    That seems like a not-so-hard and fast rule, considering there's tons of ways to get strong soul stuff, and there's a plurality of things that can be called "convictions".

    Like how else are we going to turn a sentient construct, a sentient sword, and a non-sentient sword into an Outsider? I assume by substituting the cost with something else in one or multiple ways for each.
     
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    Crake said:
    That seems like a not-so-hard and fast rule, considering there's tons of ways to get strong soul stuff, and there's a plurality of things that can be called "convictions".

    Like how else are we going to turn a sentient contract, a sentient sword, and a non-sentient sword into an Outsider? I assume by substituting the cost with something else in one or multiple ways for each.
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    Yes of course, but getting mortal followers who are devout and have lived long and fulfilling lives is the solution that scales for most gods.
     
    [X] Sarnori Pacification: The fate of Sarnor was a dark one indeed, yet now, a hopeful light shows itself, with the remaining polities being friendly, and disposed towards an eventual alliance with the Empire. However, but one in hundred are the Undead that kept their sanity, and far too many of their mindless brethren toil the countryside for it to be safe for... any activities at all, to be attempted within these lands, not least because the Undead poison the soil so.
    -[X] Goal: Undead-hunting competition between Erynies, Lenjths, and Wild hunt; focus on ending any un-aligned Sentient Undead or stragglers of the destroyed armies. In absence of Sentient Undead, hunt down Mindless Undead as far as possible to.
    ----[X] Nettles and the Sheepstealer; 11x Veteran Erynies; 11x Lenjths; 4x Wild Hunt Archers (Mounted) [CR 14]; 2x Wild Hunt Scouts (Houndmaster Hounds x3) [CR 16].
    ----[X] Previously assigned forces: 2x Very Old Myrkdreki Dragons (re-assigned to Div's Delight), CR 15; 5x Black Champions; 40x Black knights; 10x Vigilant Briars (CR 4)

    Time for "smaller than Slavers' Bay and Ymeri, bigger than infrastructure and economy reports"-actions, I say!

    This one isn't big, but can be pretty funny if DP decides to play up the rivalry between Erynies and Lenjths, exacerbated by the Fey. :V
    ...Or it can be full-on grimderp from the PoV of an "unaligned" sentient Undead trying to run away. Mwhah.
     
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    Goldfish said:
    Or grow some servitors with Vorpal claws/pincers/fangs/etc.

    Maybe something relatively small that flies at high speed? We could call them Flying Guillotines. 🤓
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    Everyday I look at the realm and I see so many weapons capable of such destruction... Then I say, IT IS NOT ENOUGH DAKKA!

    Must have this :D

    [X] egoo

    What does the winner get? Date with Ser Richard? Or more Dakka?
     
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