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

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DragonParadox said:
Mages' Misstep ​

Thirteenth Day of the Third Month 294 AC

A relieved sigh echoed through the camber, muffled by silk curtains and protections more arcane. It would not do to seem weak or wary before their hosts, but Rhaella had never before appreciated how difficult it would be to lead a company of mages in a foreign land. To practice sorcery one required both a strong will and an innate curiosity to reach for the secrets of the arcane.

Alas, both those qualities translated into an interest in the history, the culture, the faith, and the customs of their hosts that was not necessarily matched by tact. It did not help that most of the mages assigned to Vahar were young scholars looking to make some grand discovery, whether in the form of their mastery work or something to surpass it. Of course, the best lore was the secret sort which lead one to today's troubles. She could do this, Rhaella was not sure who she was trying to convince.

"Send them in," she called to the black armored knight standing by the door to the small council room the Shan had given over to his guest's quarters. Of all the lessons of her youth, a regal of bearing and showing nothing of her feelings upon her face served her in good stead as the two shame-faced young men walked into the room, carefully not looking at the now unmoving figure wrought in steel and dead flesh. Both were from Tolos, though they did not have the look of the dragon lords, raised from among the commons by nothing but their magic and all the more ambitious for it.

"Explain to me again how you managed to offend the Keeper of the Records, the High Priest of Sharnash, and the Palace Key Bearer?" the former queen asked, her voice deceptively low, though none would call the tone soft.

"We were only asking for a complete copy of the Book of Nine Veils, the Shan said we could copy all arcane knowledge, not specifically of the library..."

"And it did not occur to either of you that asking a priest for that tome with the implication that his fellows have been using illusion magic to enhance the Procession of the Gods and other holy days would be insulting? For that matter, did it not occur to either of you to ask someone better versed in diplomacy to approach the matter, or better yet not to approach it at all, because no amount of insight into glamours and figments is worth a public scandal?"

"We did not think our inquiries would reach the high priest's ear," the other mage admitted. "We believed we had built something of a rapport..."

"A friendship worth its weight in silver no doubt," Rhaella sniffed. "Upon being confronted with the accusation of blasphemy, you panicked and invoked the name of the Key Bearer, thus dragging him into a conflict he had no business in." Taking a deeper breath than she strictly needed to, Rhaella continued, "Suruk Yar was commanded to see us protected and treated as honored guests, he was not commanded to cater to our every whim and excuse every trespass."

The silence stretched out painfully before one of the pair dared to ask, "What of the Keeper of Records, Your Grace?"

"He is offended at the implication that a tome in his keeping would have been redacted by the priests," Rhaella replied curtly. "His position is hereditary, so you just insulted his ancestors and, from a certain perspective, his gods."

How does Rhaella deal with the diplomatic incident in Vahar?

[] Offer material concessions (spread wealth around to sooth parties in question Cost 10,000 IM; may give the impression of weakness)

[] Assure the court that those responsible will be punished for their trespass
-[] Write in how

[] Quietly send the mages responsible away and finish up the month's work (May appear intransigent)

[] Write in

OOC: Not the best rolls this time around, but probably not the worst place to get those rolls.
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Here's an edited version of the chapter, DP.
 
BronzeTongue said:
I've been looking into making some of our warriors more tanky, and I think I have a few winners. Most of these would have to be 1/day items, but for Richard I think it'd be worth getting him some slotless constant versions.

On his sheet Richard only has DR 5/- without buffing, so Diamondsteel would be a good addition. It's a level 3 spell that lasts for 1 round/CL, and provides DR adamantine equal to half the AC of the armor it's targeted at. Getting that consistently would be a significant boost for him.

Sacred Haven is a level 4 spell that lasts 1 minute/CL and provides a +2 sacred bonus to AC in addition to preventing the loss of the targets Dex bonus to AC while flat footed. Richard doesn't have a Sacred bonus yet, so this would bring him to 47 for base AC.

Insignia of Warding is a level 3 spell that lasts 1 minute/CL and provides a +1 divine bonus to AC and fort saves. If that's different than a sacred one then it's a least worth a though. Every bit of AC helps after all.

As to how we'd make the items we don't have casters for, I'd like to bring up Figurines of the Dwarven Forge again. I don't think we've ordered any yet, but their principle benefit is that they allow you to use scrolls to qualify as knowing a spell for the purposes of the craft magic arms and armor. That makes it a little harder to work into an existing load out, but we can make it work if we need to.
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Can you add these to your goody post? Gonna be putting together the 4th month's crafting schedule soon and some of these will probably end up on it.
 
This is going to the list of things a member of Scholarum is not allowed to do, isn't it? How many entries does it already have?
 
BronzeTongue said:
@DragonParadox do we know what the traditional punishment for locals of their roughly equivalent rank would be?
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That is a tricky question, because there is no real equivalent rank to Sorcerer Scholar and they do not believe in the gods of the land. For foreigners who erred against the local gods is usually comes out whatever the Sharn (or lesser officials) decrees. It's not common enough to have been written into the law code of Vahar.

Takesis said:
Shouldn't this be an interlude?
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Indeed it should, fixed
 
[X] Plan Reassignment to Antarctica Sothoryos
-[X] Have the two mages publicly apologise to the wronged parties.
-[X] Reassign the two of them to research posts in Sothoryos until the matter has quieted down.
--[X] Make it clear to them that their long-term prospects will not be impacted by this, but that you are annoyed by this needless incident, so they can stew a bit about their actions in the jungles.
-[X] Have someone quietly monitor the religious festivals for the use of magic to prevent any misunderstandings that might arise later on from the faith using undeclared magic in a Imperial jurisdiction.
 
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Azel said:
[X] Plan Reassignment to Antarctica Sothoryos
-[X] Have the two mages publicly apologise to the wronged parties.
-[X] Reassign the two of them to research posts in Sothoryos until the matter has quieted down.
--[X] Make it clear to them that their long-term prospects will not be impacted by this, but that you are annoyed by this needless incident, so they can stew a bit about their actions in the jungles.
-[X] Have someone quietly monitor the religious festivals for the use of magic to prevent any misunderstandings that might arise later on from the faith using undeclared magic in a Imperial jurisdiction.
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Mage #1: "What will we be doing in Sothoryos?"

Rhaella: "Bait."

Mage #2: "We're going to be stuck preparing bait? For how long?"

Rhaella: "No, you are going to be the bait. There are apparently quite a few species of carnivorous plants being discovered in the jungles near Gogossos, but they don't generally react to carrion or prepared meat used in animal traps."

Mage #1 & 2: :eek2:

Rhaella: "I suggest you brush up on your Invisibility spells and purchase a large quantity of vermin repellant."

Mage #1 & 2: 😰

[X] Azel
 
ryuan said:
This is going to the list of things a member of Scholarum is not allowed to do, isn't it? How many entries does it already have?
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We should just start assigning protocol officers to any research groups traveling abroad, especially when a relationship is new.

The mages can run anything new through the PF, and beg off dealing with sticky issues coming the other way by appealing to regulations requiring they clear requests with them first.

We can't really expect people to be perfect, but using a specialist will drop the amount of silly mistakes.
DragonParadox said:
That is a tricky question, because there is no real equivalent rank to Sorcerer Scholar and they do not believe in the gods of the land. For foreigners who erred against the local gods is usually comes out whatever the Sharn (or lesser officials) decrees. It's not common enough to have been written into the law code of Vahar.
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Okay, that makes sense. I was hoping they'd map to one of the mage police orders or some sort of bureaucrat, but the heathen angle does complicate that.


[X] Azel
I think we might be better off in the long run if we can somehow get these two to make a more substantial symbolic gift. Not something expensive or anything, but something that clearly took more time from them than writing a letter. It's difficult to come up with something without knowing what these guys are good at though.

Some good luck lesser talisman and a well written note tying it to their departure would sort of work if they have any reasonable way of quickly making one. I'm a bit fuzzy on how learning to make them works since they don't require a feat to produce.

Something gifted from a personal stash of items would also work if it's thematic.Incense of Eidos to "return some of the clarity our turbulence disturbed" or a line to that effect if they have any.

The real point would be to make it a more personal gesture than a material bribe. If there's any interest in this route I'll keep looking.
 
Goldfish said:
Mage #1: "What will we be doing in Sothoryos?"

Rhaella: "Bait."

Mage #2: "We're going to be stuck preparing bait? For how long?"

Rhaella: "No, you are going to be the bait. There are apparently quite a few species of carnivorous plants being discovered in the jungles near Gogossos, but they don't generally react to carrion or prepared meat used in animal traps."

Mage #1 & 2: :eek2:

Rhaella: "I suggest you brush up on your Invisibility spells and purchase a large quantity of vermin repellant."

Mage #1 & 2: 😰

[X] Azel
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Well, the alternative to that is procuring bodies for Elaheh or documenting field tests of whatever Qyburn cooked up today. So...
 
Goldfish said:
Mage #1: "What will we be doing in Sothoryos?"

Rhaella: "Bait."

Mage #2: "We're going to be stuck preparing bait? For how long?"

Rhaella: "No, you are going to be the bait. There are apparently quite a few species of carnivorous plants being discovered in the jungles near Gogossos, but they don't generally react to carrion or prepared meat used in animal traps."

Mage #1 & 2: :eek2:

Rhaella: "I suggest you brush up on your Invisibility spells and purchase a large quantity of vermin repellant."

Mage #1 & 2: 😰

[X] Azel
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She is annoyed enough to do this, or something like it.
 
Duesal said:
I support actually doing this. Creative punishments are one of the most effective tools for keeping students in line. Who gives a shit about detentions? Did you hear that when a kid pissed off Queen Mother Rhaella she stationed him in Sothoryos for a few months?
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Not to mention it fits in with our waste nothing, loot everything ethos. They are punished and we get some use out of their skills, rather than just wasting their time doing nothing.
 
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