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

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silvanknight said:
Should we equip Sarell with one of the Swords of the Ruin Lord?
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We still have four of them in the Armory, so I wouldn't mind assigning one of them to her. The way they work, she could turn it loose to fight for her while also fighting with another sword or using her bow.

There is also the Unholy Avenger we've been holding onto since ganking the Golden Company. She's pretty much the only person we have capable of wielding it, but it's also a really good potential item sacrifice, so we were wary of assigning it to her.

Blade of the Forsaken Champion (Unholy Avenger Valyrian Steel Longsword; 18th caster level)
 
Goldfish said:
We still have four of them in the Armory, so I wouldn't mind assigning one of them to her. The way they work, she could turn it loose to fight for her while also fighting with another sword or using her bow.

There is also the Unholy Avenger we've been holding onto since ganking the Golden Company. She's pretty much the only person we have capable of wielding it, but it's also a really good potential item sacrifice, so we were wary of assigning it to her.

Blade of the Forsaken Champion (Unholy Avenger Valyrian Steel Longsword; 18th caster level)
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The Blade of the Forsaken Champion is definitely better off given to Sarrel than sacrificed.
 
Before we give her the sword can we make sure that it's clean? Er, mystically speaking. After all these shenanigans, I'm paranoid about even going down the street atm.
 
It's maybe a little late to ask but will the people doings the check-ups be protected against compulsion/possession ?
It would be a shame if they are used to breach that defense when they examine someone.
 
Faucar said:
It's maybe a little late to ask but will the people doings the check-ups be protected against compulsion/possession ?
It would be a shame if they are used to breach that defense when they examine someone.
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Yes, everyone will be wearing PfE items, or in some cases Mind Blanks.
 
I have an idea for the house of mirrors. The goal of this intrusion was partially to misdirect our divination by using light touches that are difficult to detect. Suppress Charms and Compulsions excels at mitigating effects like that cheaply.

We could have a mindblanked manager pick a few people out of every group divining on a particular topic and have them do so while subject to the spell. We can then compare the results without letting the diviners see each other's work and look for suspicious discrepancies.

It's not perfect, but it'd make it easier to trace what's being suggested and how long it's been happening during investigations and provide another vector to notice it while it's happening. An opponent who wants to get at the house of mirrors again would need to go for an even softer approach , which makes their work less effective, or a stronger and therefore more obvious one.
 
BronzeTongue said:
I have an idea for the house of mirrors. The goal of this intrusion was partially to misdirect our divination by using light touches that are difficult to detect. Suppress Charms and Compulsions excels at mitigating effects like that cheaply.

We could have a mindblanked manager pick a few people out of every group divining on a particular topic and have them do so while subject to the spell. We can then compare the results without letting the diviners see each other's work and look for suspicious discrepancies.

It's not perfect, but it'd make it easier to trace what's being suggested and how long it's been happening during investigations and provide another vector to notice it while it's happening. An opponent who wants to get at the house of mirrors again would need to go for an even softer approach , which makes their work less effective, or a stronger and therefore more obvious one.
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DP confirmed that we just needed to distribute 250 more PfEs among the House of Mirrors employees and enchanters to cover those who weren't already protected. That's already been handled.

We need a system to verify that the PfEs are in regular working order, but that should be easily confirmed during spot checks.

Another simple solution is to set up a Hallow effect which employees will have to pass through to enter a building. I believe this is already being implemented, or was planned on, with Dany creating a few such Hallow areas per month. Am I remembering that correctly, @Crake?

The idea is that anyone under a magical Compulsion, Charm, or Domination effect would be temporarily freed from it while within the Hallow's innate Magic Circle against Evil effect.

These would also make convenient check points for our Spontaneous Search Stations.
 
Goldfish said:
DP confirmed that we just needed to distribute 250 more PfEs among the House of Mirrors employees and enchanters to cover those who weren't already protected. That's already been handled.

We need a system to verify that the PfEs are in regular working order, but that should be easily confirmed during spot checks.

Another simple solution is to set up a Hallow effect which employees will have to pass through to enter a building. I believe this is already being implemented, or was planned on, with Dany creating a few such Hallow areas per month. Am I remembering that correctly, @Crake?

The idea is that anyone under a magical Compulsion, Charm, or Domination effect would be temporarily freed from it while within the Hallow's innate Magic Circle against Evil effect.

These would also make convenient check points for our Spontaneous Search Stations.
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Subtle compulsions or ones that trigger while you're divining wouldn't get caught by that though. Stopping them from getting controlled is good, but determining when someone tries and what they wanted to do is more useful.

The PfE rings are a good start, but I think we'll be better off if we have layers of defenses that operate through different mechanisms so that defeating any one won't leave us vulnerable.

We can't do it throughly everywhere, but the house of mirrors was a major target here for good reason.

Edit: Just found another good one:Sense Madness. It gives a decent amount of insight into the mental stability of others at range, and explicitly includes magical influences.

That kind of ability would make our security more effective and targeted. People will still need deep scans, but this let us be a lot less heavy handed with them.
 
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Maybe at some point have two sets of them, with the PfE going on rotation for inspection every so often to check and find if there isn't any dampening?
 
BronzeTongue said:
I have an idea for the house of mirrors. The goal of this intrusion was partially to misdirect our divination by using light touches that are difficult to detect. Suppress Charms and Compulsions excels at mitigating effects like that cheaply.

We could have a mindblanked manager pick a few people out of every group divining on a particular topic and have them do so while subject to the spell. We can then compare the results without letting the diviners see each other's work and look for suspicious discrepancies.

It's not perfect, but it'd make it easier to trace what's being suggested and how long it's been happening during investigations and provide another vector to notice it while it's happening. An opponent who wants to get at the house of mirrors again would need to go for an even softer approach , which makes their work less effective, or a stronger and therefore more obvious one.
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That's another spell to turn into a widely used ritual.
BronzeTongue said:
Subtle compulsions or ones that trigger while you're divining wouldn't get caught by that though. Stopping them from getting controlled is good, but determining when someone tries and what they wanted to do is more useful.

The PfE rings are a good start, but I think we'll be better off if we have layers of defenses that operate through different mechanisms so that defeating any one won't leave us vulnerable.

We can't do it throughly everywhere, but the house of mirrors was a major target here for good reason.

Edit: Just found another good one:Sense Madness. It gives a decent amount of insight into the mental stability of others at range, and explicitly includes magical influences.

That kind of ability would make our security more effective and targeted. People will still need deep scans, but this let us be a lot less heavy handed with them.
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Same, but this one will likely only be used by healers, Lawmen and the Inquisition.
 
BronzeTongue said:
That seems like a lot of extra money for more of the same defense. We could get the same effect by setting up waiting rooms on site in the house of mirrors and doing random daily inspections.
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Or even just do it in rotation, like choose 20 people randomly each week to have their PfE inspected. Give them a replacement immediately so their protection isn't interrupted, while the previous ones are checked over.
 
@egoo, new RA:

[] Compulory Defenses: To mitigate the thread of enchantment magic to the Imperium, create rituals for public that help people to resist such attacks. Dream Shield and Suppress Charms and Compulsions for general use by everyone, while Sense Madness and Detect Thoughts will be spread to law-enforcement and healers to screen for mental corruption and compulsions.

It should auto-succeed, since it only takes a few days per spell to make those rituals as per the rules we used in the past, but I need prices from @DragonParadox to account for distribution and training costs.
 
@egoo, here are the ratings. Can you also link me the master list of all RAs? I can't find it but I need to check it over for missing stuff.
-[] Razor Wire: While the easy availability of earth moving magic has made it much easier to erect battlefield fortifications, many of the Legions officers see still room for improvement. They are asking for something that can be incorporated into other defenses to block an enemies movement, but which does not hinder their own soldiers ranged attacks and which is vulnerable to hostile earth movement magic or alchemical weapons. There has been some talk about using spiked metal rods or something similar for that purpose.
(Progress: 0/18; Cost: 15,000 IM)
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About 5. Neat to have, but not urgent.

-[] Proximity Alarms: Your have been in the possession of plans for enchantments that trigger an effect when something comes close to it for a while now. See about developing a cheap and reusable item that can be used to detect intruders. Maybe even Serpentstone can be triggered this way, which would allow you to even take pictures or recordings of your targets.
(Progress: 0/25; Cost: 30,000 IM)
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Clear 10. While physical infiltration played a tiny role in the current mess, this is still immensely important to better protect areas with tight access limitations, such as Inquisition offices, record halls and so on.

-[] Proximity Alarms, Advanced: With the basic alarm items having been a success, it is time to incorporate some other features from things you have encountered over the years, such as the Aberration detecting pearls in use in the Imperium. See about incorporating means into the alarms to trigger different reactions for different kinds of creatures that are noticed by them.
(Requires "Proximity Alarms" to be completed; Progress: 0/33; Cost: 60,000 IM)
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I'd say 3. This is neat to detect infiltrators at certain points, but odds are this will only ever catch the dumb, the overconfident and the badly prepared.

-[] Proximity Fuses: Your have been in the possession of plans for enchantments that trigger an effect when something comes close to it for a while now. At the same time, battlefield reports from the Moonchasers have indicated that one of the core shortcomings of alchemical steam cannon ammunition is that they often only detonate after piercing their target or burying themselves into soft ground, greatly limiting the force they deliver on the enemy. See about incorporating proximity fuses into the shells so that they can detonate before hitting the ground or their target, thus maximising the impact of their payload.
(Progress: 0/33; Cost: 75,000 IM)
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Depends a bit on how likely we are to use the air force offensively after Westeros. If we are mostly going into a holding pattern, then 3, as this research is only relevant when we are about to shell infantry with explosives, but if we decide to take a more active role in the Plane of Fire, this likely goes up to 8.

-[] Air Burst Shrapnel Shells: The new shells made with proximity fuses are proving much more devastating then the simpler designs, but there is already talk about making them even more efficient. Nearly all explosive devices in Imperial use are incorporating dedicated shrapnel in their design, but it is becoming apparent from the new shells that much of that shrapnel is going nowhere useful. See about improving the shell design so that most of the energy and shrapnel is focused forward at the target instead of into all directions.
(Requires "Proximity Fuses" to be completed; Progress: 0/44; Cost: 90,000 IM)
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Same as Proximity Fuses.

-[] High Explosive Armor Piercing Shells: Multiple times you have fought the Efreeti already and while the steam cannons of the Imperial Airforce can pierce the heavy adamantine armor of your enemies with either solid shot or explosives, it still takes quite a few hits to reliably destroy an enemy vessel. The most devastating hits are always those explosive shells that find their way into the much soft innards of a hostile craft, usually by having multiple explosive rounds fired at the same spot until one flies through a hole blasted by earlier hits. However, some cannoneers have proposed to look into a new type of shell that would combine the ability of solid shot to penetrate the armor while also carrying explosives that would trigger once the shell is inside the enemies vessel.
(Progress: 0/55; Cost: 150,000 IM)
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It's either a 5 or a 10, depending on our Plane of Fire involvement. Much more important then the proximity fuses, since fast and reliable ways to gut Efreeti vessels and bunkers is much more valuable then being able to wipe out their infantry.

-[] Improved Alchemy: The Imperium hungers for alchemical goods and much effort was poured into producing as much of them as possible, but it still does not even remotely satisfy the demand. Especially the military can devour concoctions such as Alchemists Fire or Explosive Packs at an astonishing rate. See about to either improve the output of your alchemical factories or to discover alternatives to these substances that are easier to mass-produce.
(Progress: 0/50; Cost: 200,000 IM)
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A modest 12. We can easily spend a few tons of alchemical ammunitions in a single engagement.

-[] A New Fortress: After having built a few steam cannon batteries to defend important locations, some common problems and design concerns have been noticed. The cannons should be on a high location with wide firing arcs to maximize their utility while the battery should be kept compact to make it easy to ward. At the same time, the crew and boiler remain the greatest weaknesses of the installations, the former since they are often housed in much more vulnerable camps near the batteries and the latter since the whole battery could be disabled if the boiler was hit. See about creating a standardized design for future cannon batteries to address these issues.
(Progress: 0/25; Cost: 50,000 IM)
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About 3 right now, though I would change that to 8 after Westeros. It's not a good moment to think about long-term military installations, both since we are busy with other stuff and because our enchantment budget is tied up in the production of active assets. But once Westeros is pacified, we should start organizing proper military bases across the Imperium, which includes Flak-towers for defense, and potentially to create / refit batteries in major cities.
 
Azel said:
@egoo, here are the ratings. Can you also link me the master list of all RAs? I can't find it but I need to check it over for missing stuff.

About 5. Neat to have, but not urgent.


Clear 10. While physical infiltration played a tiny role in the current mess, this is still immensely important to better protect areas with tight access limitations, such as Inquisition offices, record halls and so on.


I'd say 3. This is neat to detect infiltrators at certain points, but odds are this will only ever catch the dumb, the overconfident and the badly prepared.


Depends a bit on how likely we are to use the air force offensively after Westeros. If we are mostly going into a holding pattern, then 3, as this research is only relevant when we are about to shell infantry with explosives, but if we decide to take a more active role in the Plane of Fire, this likely goes up to 8.


Same as Proximity Fuses.


It's either a 5 or a 10, depending on our Plane of Fire involvement. Much more important then the proximity fuses, since fast and reliable ways to gut Efreeti vessels and bunkers is much more valuable then being able to wipe out their infantry.


A modest 12. We can easily spend a few tons of alchemical ammunitions in a single engagement.


About 3 right now, though I would change that to 8 after Westeros. It's not a good moment to think about long-term military installations, both since we are busy with other stuff and because our enchantment budget is tied up in the production of active assets. But once Westeros is pacified, we should start organizing proper military bases across the Imperium, which includes Flak-towers for defense, and potentially to create / refit batteries in major cities.
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Apocryphia link you yourself set up akshually :V
Its up-to-date sans the above stuff. I'll wait for updating it until @Crake's stuff is ready too.

Preliminary list for 4th month before... all this... happened, was this here.
We'll remove some stuff.

Thanks for rating, it halps.
 
@Azel, for what it's woth, the list of RAs is lacking that one "steel-hulled ships for trade I guess"-thing.

I sorely lack subject knowledge to guess but vaguely what I'm writing up about, DPs no better (and progress numbers will be wonky as such), and on top I am still of no great personal investment into the project. That last thing usually powers through lack of knowledge or understanding, yeah :V

It's around 2-3/10 on urgency scale anyway, is it not?

Mild-to-Hard rock here.

Not the standard kind of source material I suppose, but whatever, music's music and Prince's been consistent in quality of his rips (if not his singing) over the years.
Save "Ow the Edge"s. I know. :sour:
 
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egoo said:
Apocryphia link you yourself set up akshually :V
Its up-to-date sans the above stuff. I'll wait for updating it until @Crake's stuff is ready too.

Preliminary list for 4th month before... all this... happened, was this here.
We'll remove some stuff.

Thanks for rating, it halps.
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Mistook this for your most recent draft when looking over the threadmarks.
egoo said:
@Azel, for what it's woth, the list of RAs is lacking that one "steel-hulled ships for trade I guess"-thing.

I sorely lack subject knowledge to guess but vaguely what I'm writing up about, DPs no better (and progress numbers will be wonky as such), and on top I am still of no great personal investment into the project. That last thing usually powers through lack of knowledge or understanding, yeah :V

It's around 2-3/10 on urgency scale anyway, is it not?
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About a 1 actually. At least right now. That might change when we are taking territory on the PoF and begin to have a need for fireproof ships.
That and armed trains. Which reminds me that we need to start on rolling those out to the wider Imperium.

[] Steamships: While the economical use of Anti-Gravity vessels could be great, their cost is extremely prohibitive to such endeavors. However, steam power opens up the chance to build ships that can sail against wind and currents, while the abundance of high quality steel makes it feasible to look into the construction of hulls that are much bigger and sturdier then any ship seen before.

@DragonParadox, price and progress please?
 
Azel said:
Mistook this for your most recent draft when looking over the threadmarks.

About a 1 actually. At least right now. That might change when we are taking territory on the PoF and begin to have a need for fireproof ships.
That and armed trains. Which reminds me that we need to start on rolling those out to the wider Imperium.

[] Steamships: While the economical use of Anti-Gravity vessels could be great, their cost is extremely prohibitive to such endeavors. However, steam power opens up the chance to build ships that can sail against wind and currents, while the abundance of high quality steel makes it feasible to look into the construction of hulls that are much bigger and sturdier then any ship seen before.

@DragonParadox, price and progress please?
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Progress 40
Cost 200,000 IM

I dd not want to make it too expencive progress wise, but at the same time it should take focused effort to get done in one month.
 
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