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

Tenth Day of the Fifth Month 294 AC

Parion Dyodrys takes his elevation to high Ministerial office with all the courtesy and humility one might expect of a man who somehow managed to survive being a voice and servant of Relath in the early days, which is to say a good bit more of both than is really needed or expected in the Deep. Still, it s clear that the man is not without his own ambitions which he is most glad to be able to advance. Already the distinction between provincial functionary and one who is ensconced in the seat of imperial power is growing ever deeper. The narrow circles of the provinces may allow more power away from the hand of the throne, but it is in the Deep, among the high bridges and 'towers of light and shadow' of which the poets have already begun to speak of, that true power lies. So they come from far and wide, the hopeful and the ambitious, the idealistic and the well-connected.

Not all of them are well-intentioned or competent, but you trust the mechanisms of Empire to sift the wheat from the chaff to borrow a phrase from the Reach, or more like to pick the wolfish from the nets as they say in Braavos, sharper to the point. Mere chaff might make for grit in flower, but a wrong decision there could poison the realm for months or even years to come.

"What's on your mind?" Dany asks, her head comically lolling upside down as she lay on the mantelpiece just a few inches too narrow for her draconic form. Reflections of flame danced along the silver of her scales like crimson fireflies.

"I'm worried about what will happen if I make the wrong call on the ministers." The admission is blunter than you would make to any other and it tastes bitter on your tongue. "For the rest of the ministries that could be bad in all sorts of ways, touch the lives of thousands, tens or hundreds of thousands, but the Minister of Magic is to be close to things that could harm... millions in the blink of an eye. Oversight over the Scholarum, so..."

"Technically every wizard and being capable of magic that is not the two of us or mother. More practically it would exclude the rest of our friends, Amrelath who really only obeys you because you are the bigger dragon and humors institutional pretensions... and a few other like that but yeah, that is a lot of influence."

"And on the other side of the coin it is mostly organizational work which you have to be there for every day, or most of them at least," you conclude. "I cannot hand them to a Companion. Giving Malarys a seat on the High Court is already eating a lot into his time, time that might be needed to put out fires or to set them under the seat of our foes."

"Alright then. Supposing you had your ideal minister, who would they be?" she asks righting herself.

"Someone skilled in the lore of the arcane without the power to use it so there would be no conflict of interest with the Scholarum. Patient and forethoughtful would not hurt either, a good organizer and communicator. Gods know there are still places in the realm where they think wizards have horns and hooves..."

"No, that is the taxman," she giggles. "He is fun to talk to you know, knows all sorts of stories about Mammon screwing up... and some of them might even be true. "

"Are you trying to distract me from the conundrum or just remind me that those older and presumably more experienced than I can screw up?" you ask with a reluctant smile.

"I would not be using Mammon for the example of the latter," she hisses before sliding off the desk and back into human form, well mostly at least, she keeps the wings. "I think you should just pick an Arcanum. Valeria and Naria are both skilled and interested in the post. They can do their own studies on the side, otherwise hmm... this is going to sound strange."

"However shall my heart survive something strange?" you ask drolly. "Say it sister, it can't be any worse than seeking out yet another celestial spirit or some fey inclined to bureaucracy and hope they shall stay ever in the letter as well as in the spirit of their vows."

"Bharo of the Adamant. He can't use magic and you can't use magic on him for the most part, but he knows magic and he knows the planes, hells he even knows something of the Far Realm according to Xor, he has cause to be curious about all manner of lore. I know he is Ting's student, but that does not take that much of his time, especially given the fact that he does not sleep, not even as much as us."

"And he would be interested in running a Ministry?" You ask slowly. Strange it is indeed, but not so much as to dismiss it out of hand for that was never your habit.

"He does not want to be a weapon or even just a warrior really. He is looking for peace and purpose."

"I'll keep that in mind," you nod. "Come here, I would like a second opinion on the two candidates that got vetted so far. They are... well, they are compromises either way."

Emyle of He'nekar was a ritualist ere you could cast your first spell, a smith who wove the fragile threads of power into the long slow days of craft, yet as her city became part of the wider imperium she turned to political ambition and administrative office in the small town. In that she proved quite adroit and willing to work with anyone she might within the confines of the law. Having an interest in expanding her magical craft she would be a fair enough administrator for the Ministry of Magic, though if the precise means of her old craft should ever be interrelated in the Curia it might be hard to explain.

"Better someone with skeletons in the closet than one with them dancing on their head..." Dany muses as she passes from one file to the other.

Sakil Stone Soul was once a promising evoker of the Peerless Empire. Though only an oread and not one of the shaitan lords he served as a battle mage in war and as civil consultant in peace, with some experience in leading other mages. Yet an ill-fated working in seeking the coveted rank of archmage burned out the capacity to work magic from his soul, leaving him pitted and scorned in his own land. He sought a cure in the Imperium, yet not even the power of gods could safely restore what he has lost, so instead he put what skills he had to work as a consultant in matters arcane.

Choose one:

[] Valaeria the Wondersmith
+Unwaveringly Loyal (As an Arcanum she is practically family)
+Wondersmith (Has a great understanding for the needs of arcane technology which might fall under the remit of the ministry)
+Growth in the Crafting (As Lya grows in power so would she)
-Mage (Potential conflict of interest)
-Inexperienced (has never run an insitution)

[] Naria the Lorekeeper
+Unwaveringly Loyal (As and Arcanum she is practically family)
+Lorekeeper (Has a great theoretical understanding of magic)
+Growth in the Crafting (As Lya grows in power so would she)
-Mage (Potential conflict of interest)
-Inexperienced (has never run an institution)

[] Bharo the Adamant Monk
+Born to Magic, not of It (Would be nigh impossible to subvert or enchant)
+Wisdom of New Eyes (As one knowledgeable but new come into being with eyes that see the world with a sort of cautious optimism that discounts neither peril nor potential)
+No Entanglements (Is bound by neither the past nor any ambition)
--Very Inexperienced (Will have a lot of growing into the role to do in spite of his many skills)

[] Emyle of He'nekar
+Mage Smith (Has some knowledge of Low Magic and the skills that come with it)
+Administrator (Some skill at administration)
+Xenophile (Will work with anyone who is willing to help from angels to devils)
-Blood Mage (As one who worked magic before the awakening she had practiced some rather grim craft)
-Foreigner in a Foreign Land (As one raised in a provincial backwater isolated from most of the world will seem strange to practically every corner of the Imperium)

[] Sakil Stone Soul
+Deep Lore (Was once a skilled evoker of the Oppaline Vault)
+Skilled Organizer (Has lead mages in peace and in war)
-Bitter (His burned out magic is cause for no small measure of pain)
-Demanding (Can be quite difficult to work with)

OOC: Keep in mind an Adamantine Golem is a 30 HD being, their skills can go really, really high when they have the INT to have skills at all.