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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 Mar 17, 2021 at 1:26 PM, finished with 39 posts and 13 votes.
  • [X] Accept the Oaths of the Lords who willingly swore to you and judge which lands must be taken from those who did so only reluctantly
    -[X] Do so in the throne room of the Red Keep with the Legion command post that is actively coordinating the Imperial military within Westeros as a backdrop.
    [X] Deal with the Dragonpit, the thing is an eyesore and a legacy of hubris and stupidity you do not wish associated with your House
    [X] Have a.. thorough chat with the Orange and Azure Court delegates.
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Duesal said:
Will we be announcing Lannisport becoming Greyport before or after this?
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When we announce who is getting what lands and also city charters. As in, we will first announce Theon is receiving Lannisport and attending lands directly ruled by House Lannister from Casterly Rock traditionally, and then when we announce who is receiving charters for cities, we call "Lannisport" as "Greyport", for a bit of a delayed "one-two" punch.
 
SeekerofLight said:
I thought we were still doing the House of Lords. So the nobility had a new target for their plots and the illusion of influence and power. Are we not doing that?
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The Imperial Council largely fulfills this role, as Ducal Councils send a representative to it in the first place. Making the House concept largely irrelevant. Also, encouraging the more minor Lords like Barons and Counts to send a representative just encourages more unnecessary scheming, but now with an oversized platform.

Let them send people to our Outer Court. Its the Inner Court and the Imperial Council where the real shit goes down.
 
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Part MMMDCCXVIII: In an Old Hall New Tidings Brought
  • Threadmarks
    • In an Old Hall New Tidings Brought ​

    First Day of the Fifth Month 294 AC

    It is admittedly rather on the nose to have the oath-taking of those lords who have not yet pledged to you take place in the throne room of the Red Keep turned Legion command post, from the flashing lights of the Gemstone Table to the officers quietly dealing with news flying in by raven or more often than not being carried on the wings of magic itself by brazier. However, as you pointed out to Lya when she brought the matter up, better a tap on the nose now for all concerned than a blade on the neck later. Things should ideally be as clear as Shaitan Glassteel, for the punishments will be just as hard should it come to them.

    Part of that is the room itself, festooned not just with the three-headed dragon of your House retaking its place of preeminence, but also with the banners of the Legions that took part in the pacification as well as others representing the Praetorian Guard and the Airforce. There is even one for the Griffon Knights, though Waymar was rather ambivalent about it, since watching Melisandre burn a sept and then melting a rebellious knight where he stood was not precisely a challenge worthy of songs, but this moment is not about songs, it is about getting two... complementary messages across.

    On the one hand you already have a realm, one with its own army and its own weapons such as they cannot hope to stand against. Far more so than even Aegon, you do not rule by the consent of the lords. But on the other hand, if they are willing to keep the peace and hold the law in the proper regard, their fortunes and the fortunes of their Houses need not fade. Loyalty will be rewarded just as disloyalty shall be punished.

    Your mother counseled that it might be best to seem a touch more remote than you usually do. The lords, especially these lords, will not expect a king who has just conquered the Seven Kingdoms to smile and jest as much as you usually do to break the drone of formality and forge connections. There will be time later in Sorcerer's Deep to make yourself known and understood, in character as well as expectation. For now it is best to give the lords who have come to pledge themselves to your throne, some more reluctantly than others, precisely what they expect.

    Amrelath had suggested appearing as a dragon with the full weight of dragon awe around you, but that would make communication rather difficult. You think it was said in jest, though you cannot be entirely sure when it comes to the Ash-Risen.

    The first contingent of lords to step forth are also the least numerous, Riverlords all. You turn the doings of the previous night over in your mind. Patrek Mallister had been compelled to resist your claim by Lannister enchantment almost unto the doom of him and his entire House. Lord Clement Piper had surrendered at once, as had Lord Norbert Vance of Atranta. The junior branch of the House did not fare as well, being attainted as traitors, their lord dead at the hands and teeth of an Inquisition strike team. And then there is Roslyn Deddings, not yet formally a lady, though her father has accepted the offer of exile to a septry in Andalos in exchange for her being confirmed.

    How do you judge the Riverlander houses?

    [] Mallister: Write in

    [] Piper: Write in

    [] Vance of Atranta: Write in

    [] Deddings: Write in

    [] Vance of Wayfarer's Rest [Attained]: Write in

    OOC: OK, let's do this one kingdom at a time. For the attained House it's a decision of what to do with the land, though you can defer it if you want, only the lords and lady have to be handled now.
     
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  • Threadmarks
    • [X] Allow everyone who surrendered and was not declared a traitor to reaffirm their vows of fealty, as planned. If it needed to be said, it can at least be implied that you will not allow this to interfere with the smooth running on their respective fiefdoms, nor their development. But none of them hold your favor at this time. None of them. They will move to correct this. And everyone in the Realm will likely know your feelings on this matter, simply because of how few people hesitated to hoist the Dragon Banner in the first place, much less failed to attend your coronation. Nothing you can do about that, whatever your personal feelings toward these Lords and Ladies.

    [X] Vance of Wayfarer's Rest: The lands will be seized by the Crown, managed by the Administration for now until you figure out what to do with them.
     
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    DragonParadox said:
    In an Old Hall New Tidings Brought ​

    First Day of the Fifth Month 294 AC

    It is admittedly rather on the nose to have the oath-taking of those lords who have not yet pledged to you take place in the throne room of the Red Keep turned Legion command post, from the flashing lights of the Gemstone Table to the officers quietly dealing with news flying in by raven or more often than not being carried on the wings of magic itself by brazier. However, as you pointed out to Lya when she brought the matter up, better a tap on the nose now for all concerned than a blade on the neck later. Things should ideally be as clear as Shaitan Glassteel, for the punishments will be just as hard should it come to them.

    Part of that is the room itself, festooned not just with the three-headed dragon of your House retaking its place of preeminence, but also with the banners of the Legions that took part in the pacification as well as others representing the Praetorian Guard and the Airforce. There is even one for the Griffon Knights, though Waymar was rather ambivalent about it, since watching Melisandre burn a sept and then melting a rebellious knight where he stood was not precisely a challenge worthy of songs, but this moment is not about songs, it is about getting two... complementary messages across.

    On the one hand you already have a realm, one with its own army and its own weapons such as they cannot hope to stand against. Far more so than even Aegon, you do not rule by the consent of the lords. But on the other hand, if they are willing to keep the peace and hold the law in the proper regard, their fortunes and the fortunes of their Houses need not fade. Loyalty will be rewarded just as disloyalty shall be punished.

    Your mother counseled that it might be best to seem a touch more remote than you usually do. The lords, especially these lords, will not expect a king who has just conquered the Seven Kingdoms to smile and jest as much as you usually do to break the drone of formality and forge connections. There will be time later in Sorcerer's Deep to make yourself known and understood, in character as well as expectation. For now it is best to give the lords who have come to pledge themselves to your throne, some more reluctantly than others, precisely what they expect.

    Amrelath had suggested appearing as a dragon with the full weight of dragon awe around you, but that would make communication rather difficult. You think it was said in jest, though you cannot be entirely sure when it comes to the Ash-Risen.

    The first contingent of lords to step forth are also the least numerous, Riverlords all. You turn the doings of the previous night over in your mind. Patrek Mallister had been compelled to resist your claim by Lannister enchantment almost unto the doom of him and his entire House. Lord Clement Piper had surrendered at once, as had Lord Norbert Vance of Atranta. The junior branch of the House did not fare as well, being attainted as traitors, their lord dead at the hands and teeth of an Inquisition strike team. And then there is Roslyn Deddings, not yet formally a lady, though her father has accepted the offer of exile to a septry in Andalos in exchange for her being confirmed.

    How do you judge the Riverlander houses?

    [] Mallister: Write in

    [] Piper: Write in

    [] Vance of Atranta: Write in

    [] Deddings: Write in

    [] Vance of Wayfarer's Rest [Attained]: Write in

    OOC: OK, let's do this one kingdom at a time. For the attained House it's a decision of what to do with the land, though you can defer it if you want, only the lords and lady have to be handled now.
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    Made some additional edits to the chapter, DP.
     
    [X] Plan Post War Order - Riverlands
    -[X] Mallister
    --[X] Tell him that you recognize the duress under which he was put when his Lannister guests enslaved him. // Yes, you could not surrender. No, you did not have to let Tywins little slaver ants in. We will forget the latter part if you give us no reason to remember it.
    --[X] You trust that he will be a leal bannerman of Duke Walder Frey. // Postwar order as planned.
    -[X] Piper: No penalty.
    -[X] Vance of Atranta: No penalty.
    -[X] Deddings: No penalty.
    -[X] Vance of Wayfarer's Rest [Attained]: Fiefs seized and will become the seat of the Imperial administration of the Governorship of the Midlands.
     
    Crake said:
    [ ] Coronation Announcement - Day 12
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    this already happened and most of the loyalist lords attended in fact we got a mythic rank from it , having a second coronation would cheapen it and it would feel as it we are bending over to include the lords who were not so forth coming with their oaths when its them who should be bending over backwards to be included
     
    BTW, I keep seeing everyone use "attained", but it's supposed to be "attainted". 🧐

    /Grammar Nazi Vanish! :ninja:
     
    @DragonParadox I get covering the whole "what do we do with each Lord who surrendered, or was declared traitor" vote, since legally and strategically even, that's important to make an immediate decision about.

    But before leaping into an organized political event like I outlined on the previous page, IIRC we still have a meeting with some of our guests (the Qartheen, the Yi Tish--more of a threatening than a meeting), and IIRC again I believe we voted to meet with Nandazda Aoqin with Dalla and then Gramdal mo Ia in Volantis with Zherys, both from New Ghis, so probably best to get that out of the way before it, too.

    Azel said:
    -[X] Next weeks meetings:
    --[X] Quietly yelling at the Azure and Orange delegations.
    ---[X] Call the Azure leader, Huan Feng, Pol Ning and her minder to one of your smaller solars for receiving guests.
    ---[X] Tell them that you have some things to say about the events of yesterday and that you want them to listen closely.
    ---[X] If they at any point try to speak up without having been given express permission to do so, immediately spend 2 Mythic Power to cast a Mythic Bloodwish to replicate Mythic Silence, centered on you and excluding yourself, effectively revoking their noise making privileges without having to actually cast anything on them. The spell is cast without any outwards sign except a swift and slight cutting motion with his hand.
    ---[X] To Azure: Both the undertones of their speech and their gifts was blatantly obvious to you. You threw them lifeline after lifeline since you did not want to cause any more of a scene than necessary. It is at this point irrelevant to you if this has been the result of arrogance, sabotage or simple incompetence. Most likely a mixture of all three. You have written a nice letter to his lord that explains their screw-ups in detail and heavily suggests for him to not send diplomats to anything more important than a pig-sty until he has cleaned house in the diplomatic corpse. Next time, they should listen to Huan Feng, who as far as you know tried to prevent this mess but was not listened to.
    ---[X] To Orange: Releasing a potentially hostile Kami in the middle of a courtly function would have constituted a breach of guest right at the least and manslaughter at worst if anyone would have died from his actions. You do not know what precisely he was thinking while trying to do so, most likely nothing at all, and will be happier to never hear his justification, but he should appreciate that, had Pol Ning not interrupted him, he would most likely be dead by now, either due to palace security cutting him down or due to being hanged for the dead and wounded he caused. As far as you are concerned, he owes Pol Ning a life debt. As far as the palace security is concerned, he is a security threat and will be removed immediately, should he ever try to set foot into the palace again. State again that Pol Nings help in freeing the Kami was much appreciated, but you could not reward their delegation by accepting it right after one of theirs nearly caused a bloody war. You have written a nice letter detailing these things for their lord.
    ---[X] To Both: The Imperium is neutral so far in the Yi-Tish civil war. The events at the coronation have not changed that. They should be happy about this. If, in the future, any of the Yi-Tish factions cause harm to Imperial citizens, allies or interests in the pursuit of conducting their civil war, especially if it is done deliberately in an attempt to discredit their opponents, the response will be swift and decisive.
    ---[X] If you had to turn off the sound, remind them that speaking out of turn is exceptionally rude, then dismiss them and wish them a good journey home without actually giving them a chance to speak, lest someone wants to negotiate himself into a summary execution.
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    Found it...
     
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    Crake said:
    @DragonParadox I get covering the whole "what do we do with each Lord who surrendered, or was declared traitor" vote, since legally and strategically even, that's important to make an immediate decision about.

    But before leaping into an organized political event like I outlined on the previous page, IIRC we still have a meeting with some of our guests (the Qartheen, the Yi Tish--more of a threatening than a meeting), and IIRC again I believe we voted to meet with Nandazda Aoqin with Dalla and then Gramdal mo Ia in Volantis with Zherys, both from New Ghis, so probably best to get that out of the way before it, too.


    Found it...
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    I did not forget bu the Westerosi lords are more urgent I think since there are a lot of land and a lot of people in administrative limbo. This is not a major reorganization yet, it's just the baseline for who keeps all their lands, who keeps some of it and what happens to the lands the crown gets.
     
    Crake said:
    [ ] Summer Summit Proposal
    -[] The Summit will take place over the course of fourteen days.
    --[] Should either the Lord or Lady or their Heir be considered, after examination by the appropriate official, to be indisposed simultaneously for whatever reason, the Crown will appoint a representative from their Household.
    --[] The attendees and a small entourage will be escorted personally to the Imperial Palace, their quarters and lodgings prepared beforehand, the area maximally warded, patrolled and guarded.
    ---[] Cite danger of interference from a number of sources, and the number of concentrated personnages making the entire Summit a greater security nightmare than any similar meeting. Guest Right is assured in all proceedings upon immediate arrival, which will be recorded with a unique seal from title-holder's signet and an arcane mark.
    ----[] Transport back upon the Summer Summit's conclusion will also be provided.
    -[] The Summit will take place in Sorcerer's Deep, the capital of the Imperium.
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    Best to push that back to the end of the month then, since we need to raise a few people into lordships and demote a few others, so they should have some time to get their bearings.

    Shit on them now in the early morning after a long night and with the imminent threat of our military might, play nice with them when they had some time to get to grips with the changed realities.
    Crake said:
    [ ] Introduction - Day 1
    -[] The first day, the Lords will have the opportunity to settle in and then gather in the Throne Room fully capable of accomodating every ruling Lord and Lady in Westeros.
    --[] Normal protocol will generally dictate that none but the House's representative may enter the chambers, and it will be warded to the highest standards from physical threat and divination, even by that of the Gods.
    --[] There will be a raised platform in the middle of the room with a specially configured and measured construction and overall architecture that allows those who stand upon it to have their voice reach everyone in the room clearly from any position, one designated spot for the Speaker elected by the attending representatives, generally someone considered impartial or the best of all compromising positions by those voting, to direct and organize proceedings in accordance with protocols set out by Viserys.
    ---[] The Throne Room already has these specifications, due to hosting the Imperial Council.
    --[] Viserys will make arrangements for a stand-in for himself, if it becomes necessary.
    ---[] If for some reason a tie in the votes occurs, one more vote will be held between the two forerunning candidates. Viserys can dismiss the Speaker and appoint another for any reason whatsoever, or else appoint none at all and direct the session himself.
    -[] The other position on the platform will allow for a representative to step up to address the Summit.
    -[] After votes are cast and the Speaker is selected, the session is halted for a bit of a meet and greet between the nobility. Lords will be allowed to mingle in designated private meeting spaces, dining areas, gardens or in the Throne Room itself. Viserys will speak to several people and may be approached, though not for any substantive business. He will be too busy until directly after the meeting, so if it is business for Westeros, it must wait until the day Petitions to the Crown will be heard, or else at the conclusion of the Summit before they are returned home if it is a personal matter.
    -[] Protocols are generally like this, with some flexibility worked out on the go as everyone gains more experience with these things.
    --[] Representatives will file in one by one and take their seats. They will remain standing instead if the Crown is represented in some manner until bid to seat themselves.
    --[] Once the chamber doors are closed, the final security measures will engage and barring emergency evacuation protocols, no one will leave.
    --[] No attendee carries a weapon into the Throne Room. There are other magical security measures if for some reason that is a concern, but this isn't generally a security matter, instead simply indicating that no one present has any intention of breaking the King's Peace while acting as one body, as they have the responsibility of upholding it.
    --[] There are to be two Recesses during open sessions, breaking them up a bit at set intervals. The doors will be opened and remain opened until all representatives are accounted for, before being closed again. Generally sessions will not resume if a representative becomes indisposed, unless a replacement cannot be found within a timely manner.
    --[] Two people have speaking privileges at the same time during a normal session. The Speaker and organizer, and the person approaching to address. One may ring a bell to question the person addressing the Summit/Council, or else the Speaker themselves should the one addressing the body gathered in a manner disruptive to proceedings.
    ---[] Viserys is inclined to allow factions to form organically and appoint their own voices. Misuse of this function will suspend the privilege for the rest of the session, and should a string of abuses take place the Speaker will instead merely make note of requests to speak and prioritize as best as they can. If there are too many independents interests for this to be reasonable Viserys will revisit the matter more formally.
    --[] Viserys may interrupt the session at any time and for any reason to speak. When he does not intend to speak, he will remain seated at all times. When he does intend to speak, he will stand instead. All discussion halts at these points.
    --[] If it ever reaches a point where the discussion breaks down completely, or worse, something like fighting breaks out on the floor, Viserys can unilaterally dismiss the entire gathered body from the session, or even dismantle the current Council immediately.
    --[] This is a privilege. Not a right.
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    I'm not sold on this in it's present form. This reeks of establishing, however informally, a body in which the lords can pool their ressources to oppose us.
     
    Azel said:
    I'm not sold on this in it's present form. This reeks of establishing, however informally, a body in which the lords can pool their ressources to oppose us.
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    This is basically not establishing a House of Lords type situation anymore, but more introducing the normal order of operations of the Imperial Council... which is already a thing... and already composed of representatives from the Ducal-tier Councils, but also combined with Essos' representatives.

    We're just using the same rules for discussing all of this with the Lords (and to give a crash course on how an orderly governing body actually behaves).
     
    Crake said:
    This is basically not establishing a House of Lords type situation anymore, but more introducing the normal order of operations of the Imperial Council... which is already a thing... and already composed of representatives from the Ducal-tier Councils, but also combined with Essos' representatives.

    We're just using the same rules for discussing all of this with the Lords (and to give a crash course on how an orderly governing body actually behaves).
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    I got that, but the Imperial Council does not include lords, so you are still assembling a different body for the express purpose of law making. A few of them will get the idea that this should be a regular thing.
     
    Azel said:
    This reeks of establishing, however informally, a body in which the lords can pool their ressources to oppose us.
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    Also, I feel like I need to address this directly.

    The Imperial Council is basically this, except you are positioning representatives to meet in a city we completely control. This disallows convenient gathering points for Lords to scheme with lower-tier nobles, but doesn't make it flatly impossible by any means.

    Basically, schemers are going to scheme no matter what. We haven't explicitly made it easier for them, but neither have we done anything to make it harder outside of the work our secret police does.

    The informal body to pool resources together already exists. It especially exists within the means of those Lords who have the ability to shield their activities from us without directly mind-shielding themselves against divination (obviously without prior authorization to do so).

    You are going to have to outline specific measures / rationale as to why the Council in its present form doesn't already become this (not that I feel like we have much to fear from it, since it isn't explicitly invested with any powers that we can't casually take away, those powers generally being to debate legislation, and then present it to the Crown for review).
     
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