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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:
And to be honest if Lya has anything to say about it. Being pregnant sounds exhausting to her not to mention inefficient. Why do the incubating yourself when you can build a better incubator. It would be like deciding that you should crack nuts with your fingers instead of getting a hammer.
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If that's her thinking I'm not sure why she would bother with the concept of "children" in the first place. Just make something with high enough HD and call it a day.
 
ryuan said:
If that's her thinking I'm not sure why she would bother with the concept of "children" in the first place. Just make something with high enough HD and call it a day.
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Because Children despite their hellspawn-ness are adorable and raising a kid from a young age helps with bonding.
 
ryuan said:
If that's her thinking I'm not sure why she would bother with the concept of "children" in the first place. Just make something with high enough HD and call it a day.
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Because children are defined by who raises them and not who makes them in the biological sense. For her having kids would be nice even if carrying them around unborn would not be

Anyway Vote Closed and update in beta (because it was not much of a vote).
 
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Part MMMDCCLXVII: Of Deals and Deathless Men
  • Threadmarks
    • Of Deals and Deathless Men ​

    Eighteenth Day of the Fifth Month 294 AC

    Though in the end you decide against another shock to the hearts of the lords of Westeros who can yet recognize the name Brynden Rivers, which is to say all of them, the next few appointments are relatively straightforward.

    The Minister of Justice escapes the gaze of the Princeps with only a few questions from Relath that are meant to make him seem like all the better fit for the post. Shad Ibn Mal's fiery hair and beard raises eyebrows but not voices, though that is perhaps aided by the fact that his ignorance of the tongues of east and west is masked by the spell upon the chamber as well as the fact that he had wrought a speech to fit the purpose. What he lacks for in charisma he more than makes up with in obvious competence in the tasks of building and of finance. More than one lord and representative is left wondering why he could not have been the strange taxman if a stranger was needed, though they to not ask aloud.

    When the time comes for Menel to make his entrance you are amused to find that the reason most have reservations regarding him is his perceived youth, though the amusement wanes when the conversation shifts to quite how a man so old as he could wear the body of youth. It is Howland Reed that rises to address the matter, the man had looked at first out of place in his green mantle and shirt and pants of plain brown, not to mention the lithe stature, so much physically overshadowed by others of his colleagues. But the Duke of the Neck does not look the least intimidated to be addressing you, for all he is unflaggingly polite. The soft green of his eyes recalls the stillness of the Singers enough that you suspect there is some truth to the tales that the old Marsh Kings had blood of that kindred in them.

    "Your Majesty, I raise no objection to those who are of their own nature more long-lived than men taking seats in high council, for it would be as envying the bird for its wings and asking them to be cut to suit us. Yet when a man such as the reputable Menel Goldentooth might come to such honor, the years of his life have stretched by magic, I cannot help but wonder at the fact that no lord and prince may take that path lest they be counted dead and their inheritance should pass on. I know why this was done and count it wise, and yet would it not raise the question of how long one might hold the post of Minister, High Judge, Censor or even Governor if they had but the means to cheat the death of age?"

    "If I might speak first before the throne has its say," Menel himself interjects. "I have no intention to hold the post of Minister until I am old and grey once more... which with the burdens of the post is likely to be in twenty years and not fifty," he chuckles.

    "I do not doubt that you are a man of goodwill, but goodwill alone does not make rules," Duke Reed replies. "I ask pliantly, can we trust that administrative positions are not to fall slowly into the hands of deathless men?"

    What do you reply?

    [] Write in

    OOC: A short update and I think a good sign since it shows that there are things to engage with in matters of politics instead of stretching on into weak votes and scene breaks just on raw thematic grounds.
     
  • Threadmarks
    • [X] "While there will be no term limits, and those who are granted their office by Imperial appointment will maintain it and serve or be dismissed at the Crown's pleasure, I do not want the highest echelons of governance calcifying upon the same perspectives like life upon the sea bed and fossils in the ground. That is why so many who were appointed are but mortal men and not immortal spirits, all with eons of experience."
    -[X] "If I see a need that is not met, I will seek out the person best suited for the task at hand, even if that person should have previously served. And if they are no longer required but someone else is, one who has never served upon this august body in that position or even another, much the same answer."
    --[X] You know people will imagine limits upon your power or authority. By the end of the month you expect they will get used to you having ultimate control of the very system you created, and no other.
    ---[X] "Arbitrary limitations upon who or may not be called to take up Ministerial duties will ill serve the Crown. My advisors apprise me very closely on the needs of the realm, and I have a keen eye for talent, and awareness that new ideas do not come from the same voices echoing eternally against the same walls, over and over again."
    -----[X] "I hope this satisfies you, Duke Reed."
     
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    Good question. Should we have term limits.

    Because so far most of our answers to people's question has been, trust me bro I got it. I am sure we need some systematic limits in place to re assure them.
     
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    So while I abstractly recognize that we've established an absolutist monarchy with ourselves at the head based around a strong constitution...that just happens to enshrine us as in charge of everything, the reality is this is a pretty legitimate concern I would have and, system wise, longevity breeds conservatism that leads to ossification and while we the players know we can avoid that ICly as a citizen in this empire with a good perspective about how all this is supposed to work I would very concerned about the system gradually turning into an immortal-run ossified gerontocracy that can't reliably deal with new social pressures or stimuli well. We have this problem with people simply living a few decades longer in reality, so.

    Yeah.

    *edit*

    Holy shit that's a run-on sentence. Well, whatever, point stands.
     
    DragonParadox said:
    Of Deals and Deathless Men ​

    Eighteenth Day of the Fifth Month 294 AC

    Although in the end you decide against another shock to the hearts of the lords of Westeros who can yet recognize the name Brynden Rivers, which is to say all of them, the next few appointments are relatively straightforward.

    The Minister of Justice escapes the gaze of the Princeps with only a few questions from Relath that are meant to make him seem like all the better fit for the post. Shad Ibn Mal's fiery hair and beard raises eyebrows but not voices, though that is perhaps aided by the fact that his ignorance of the tongues of east and west is masked by the spell upon the chamber as well as the fact that he had wrought a speech to fit the purpose. What he lacks for in charisma he more than makes up with in obvious competence in the tasks of building and of finance. More than one lord and representative is left wondering why he could not have been the strange taxman, if a stranger was needed, though they do not ask aloud.

    When the time comes for Menel to make his entrance, you are amused to find that the reason most have reservations regarding him is his perceived youth, though the amusement wanes when the conversation shifts to quite how a man so old as he could wear the body of youth. It is Howland Reed that rises to address the matter. The man had looked at first out of place in his green mantle and shirt and pants of plain brown, not to mention the lithe stature, so much physically overshadowed by others of his colleagues. But the Duke of the Neck does not look the least intimidated to be addressing you, for all he is unflaggingly polite. The soft green of his eyes recalls the stillness of the Singers enough that you suspect there is some truth to the tales that the old Marsh Kings had blood of that kindred in them.

    "Your Majesty, I raise no objection to those who are of their own nature more long-lived than men taking seats in high council, for it would be as envying the bird for its wings and asking them to be cut off to suit us. Yet when a man such as the reputable Menel Goldentooth might come to such honor, the years of his life have stretched by magic, I cannot help but wonder at the fact that no lord and prince may take that path lest they be counted dead and their inheritance should pass on. I know why this was done and count it wise, and yet would it not raise the question of how long one might hold the post of Minister, High Judge, Censor or even Governor, if they had but the means to cheat the death of age?"

    "If I might speak first before the throne has its say," Menel himself interjects. "I have no intention to hold the post of Minister until I am old and grey once more... which with the burdens of the post is likely to be in twenty years and not fifty," he chuckles.

    "I do not doubt that you are a man of goodwill, but goodwill alone does not make rules," Duke Reed replies. "I ask plainly, can we trust that administrative positions are not to fall slowly into the hands of deathless men?"

    What do you reply?

    [] Write in

    OOC: A short update and I think a good sign since it shows that there are things to engage with in matters of politics instead of stretching on into weak votes and scene breaks just on raw thematic grounds.
    Click to expand...
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    Made some additional edits to the chapter, DP.
     
    @Crake, nobody knows what a fossil is.

    [X] "The Ministers serve at the crowns leisure and while I see no value in artificial limits on how long that may be, I can assure you that I have no desire to see the state ossify in the hands of immortals."
    -[X] "As the world changes, so will the state have to change in the small things, such as those who wield power in it, and in the great things, such as what shape that power takes. In fifty years, there might be no more need of a Minister of Magic at all. In a hundred, the office might be sorely missed and will be reinstated. It is a ministers duty to serve the crown to the best of their ability and that includes to step down when fresh blood is what is needed."
    -[X] "If you ever come to feel that such is the case, Duke Reed, then I ask you to speak up in this matter. It is after all the purpose of the Curia to advice me on such matters."
     
    [X] "The Ministers serve at the crowns leisure and while I see no value in artificial limits on how long that may be, I can assure you that I have no desire to see the state ossify in the hands of immortals."
    -[X] "As the world changes, so will the state have to change in the small things, such as those who wield power in it, and in the great things, such as what shape that power takes. In fifty years, there might be no more need of a Minister of Magic at all. I a hundred, the office might be sorely missed and will be reinstated. It is a ministers duty to serve the crown to the best of their ability and that includes to step down when fresh blood is what is needed."
    -[X] "If you ever come to feel that such is the case, Duke Reed, then I ask you to speak up in this matter. It is after all the purpose of the Curia to advice me on such matters."
     
    We can just five years and then needing a reconfirmation from the crown. It doesn't cost anything but it reassures the factions. And we can pacify that they can question them in 5 years again. It's literally a costless sacrifice.

    @Azel.
     
    Acolyte said:
    We can just five years and then needing a reconfirmation from the crown. It doesn't cost anything but it reassures the factions. And we can pacify that they can question them in 5 years again. It's literally a costless sacrifice.

    @Azel.
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    "Every five years, I will slam my rubberstamp on these people" is not the reassurance that you think it is. It's a very empty gesture, insultingly so.
     
    Crake said:
    "While there will be no term limits, and those who are granted their office by Imperial appointment will maintain it and serve or be dismissed at the Crown's pleasure, I do not want the highest echelons of governance calcifying upon the same perspectives like life upon the sea bed and fossils in the ground.
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    Azel said:
    I have no desire to see the state ossify in the hands of immortals."
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    He says while planning to stay on top of the state forever, while being able to overrule anything these new voices will tell him he might not want to hear.

    Seriously though, Viserys should propably take a step back in a few decades, or a mortal's lifespan.
     
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