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

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I thought about giving the faction a name in Greek to stand in for Valyrian, but Zherys is not doing this for the legacy these days, rather he has practical goals in mind and wants to make that very clear.
 
Alright. Factions so far are:

Crimson Dawn - 7 votes in the Curia Principium
Eithur Fulka - 6 votes in the Curia Principium, 1 vote in the Curia Vocium
Those Three - 3 votes in the Curia Principium
 
DragonParadox said:
New Dawn Rising ​

Twenty-Third Day of the Fifth Month 294 AC

The Merchant's House, Hegemony of Volantis

Far was the lantern-lit hall of the the inn in the sweltering heat of the Volantine Summer from the blessed cool of Sorcerer's Deep, and few would be those who would dare to summon members of the Curia so far while it was in session. Even among the great there were those counted great, however, and the distance and inconvenience was part of the lesson in its own way. While many of their peers reeled under the realization that the world was wider and darker than any of them had dared to imagine, here in the private parlors that had seen the sealing of deals which had raised and crumbled the fortunes of Great Houses and the fate of nations, those wise and learned in lore would meet and talk of the affairs of the realm and how they might advance their own interests in it.

On silks and gold in the guise of nameless glyphs fell the light, on hair bright as silver, on a wizard's coronet of wisdom. Zherys Naethyreon smiled at his guests, some more familiar than others. From Myr, ever impeccable in dress and in manner, had come the Lady Doreah. Never Wisdom Doreah, because she always saw her magic as a tool and not as a facet of her nature, though alas, she came alone. The cleavage among the Myrish must run deeper than he had thought or indeed hoped would be the case, though the lack was more than made up for in his eyes when he saw that Headmaster Denerro Melolla had not come alone and indeed had brought with him a 'man' in sea-green who was by far the most infamous inhabitant of fair Tolos to the East.

"Your Excellency, I am so glad that you could attend our humble meeting," the former Lord of the Mysterium and current archon of three realms said. One might think that was a faction in itself, but if so that hypothetical one lacked ambition.

"And is there any reason beyond sentiment and symbolism that it should be here and not in the Deep?" the dragon asked with bluntness that hid a sharp gleam in the eye. "At the risk of seeming rude, I must confess there are far more pleasant taverns in the capital than one can find here?"

"Well, that is rather the point, is it not?" the Volantine mage replied with practiced smoothness. "The center needs no advocates. The outer provinces do, and that is the reason why I sought to bring you all here in West Volantis and not in the Old City, ever looking back to a legacy that was at least as flawed as it was great. Here there is trade and there is craft, mundane and magical, such as I could but dream of in my youth. That which binds us all, not just in common heritage but common aspiration..."

"Even this humble slave to the Lord of Light?" A voice floated out of the darkness and to all eyes but Relath's and those of Zherys himself, it seemed as though a mane of silver hair appeared unsupported in the air, so dark was the face that bore it, though as the speaker grew close the complex crimson and orange tattoos that marked his cheeks and trailed along his neck flared like sullen flame.

"You are late, Wisdom Moqorro, which I would not call a mark of humility," the lord of the city said without turning, though there was perhaps a more amused light in his eye than the tone would have hinted at. "By the fact that you are alone and not in the Company of Governor Maekar, I am guessing he shall not be joining us."

"He said, and I quote ''Tell that one-winged snake that I took the job to get away from his tangles and not to be reeled back'," The priest stopped. "He also said to mention that he meant snake in the way a priest of the Great Serpent would interpret it."

"Then I shall take the compliment in the spirit it was given," came the reply dry as the dust of the Red Wastes. "To answer your first question, yes, you are welcome because I happen to know who you represent beyond just R'hllor the Red and I did not choose your name out of a golden pot when I handed you that responsibility." Turning to the rest of the room at large, he added, "And that is rather the point I have come to discuss with all of you. Either by birth or by adoption," he tipped his head towards the governor of Tolos, "you represent the heirs of a civilization that has formed the foundation of the Imperium, united in language, in culture, and in the very shape of our history, and thus in the challenges we face. The end of slavery has brought vast opportunities, but also great peril as the cost of labor fluctuates wildly, as displaced populations break on the walls of the great cities like waves upon the shore. The potential to revolutionize everything from agriculture to manufacturing to trade is great, but so is the chance for the cart to be upturned as the gates of popular representation grow wider, outpacing education."

Zherys paused and looked around his attentive audience once more. Time to throw some red meat into the pit. "This will inevitably happen west of the Narrow Sea where education is so lacking even among the upper classes. Arguably, it already has. Outside the Imperial namings, the best 'lords' are the ones who are merely much too green and might learn as they go along. The worst are the sort who think prosperity can come only he had in the manner of their fathers and their father's fathers, usually involving stabbing someone and taking their things in an economic model that any brigand could recognize."

"And lo, the idol shows its face and it is gold, but its feet beneath the robe were clay..." a soft feminine voice declaimed a verse from the days of the Century of Blood. "I think most brigands would have recognized the ones who inspired that verse, Excellence," Lady Phassen said.

"Three centuries is a rather long time to be holding grudges, my lady," Zherys replied. "Particularly when the empty lands that age has made are not staring us in the face and waiting to be peopled, assuming we retain the economic might to do so and can obtain the military resources to do it safely. To the west of Westeros lies only the cold sea over which no dragon has ever flown, not so the eastern border..."

"I do not think the Imperator shall make any of us as mighty as kings, little cousin," the dragon of Tolos said, his cool tone in contrast with his too-familiar words.

"Us here, no, our allies in thought and deed, perhaps. War with Norvos and Qohor is all but inevitable, and I do not fancy seeing either beards or goats in the Curia. The Imperator favors local interests and elites to put in place in newly conquered cities when he can to ease the transition. There is yet a window to make sure those folk are of like mind to us, to add allies in place of folk who speak our tongue poorly and think poorly those who keep to friendly gods. My friends, the Disputed Lands between three cities made of a small maritime kingdom the seeds of Empire. What shall the disputed lands of all of Essos make of the realm?"

"I hope you are not proposing anything disloyal, Zherys..." a trembling voice rose from the corner of the room.

You really are unspeakably dim for a wizard, Melolla, Zherys thought, though he was careful to smooth the disdain off his face. "No, of course not. What I am proposing is to make the expansion of Imperial borders eastward easier and smoother, and in so doing create a counterbalance to the knightly Houses of the west and the mercantile interests of Braavos. The Imperator rewards those who take initiative, but this ambition is beyond any of us alone. As well as that, we would make our own lands greater and more influential by making use of the resources we have inherited, be it in infrastructure, education, and the people more accustomed to sorcery."

"And you would be leading this new movement then?" the dragon of Tolos asked, his tone dangerously low.

"I would be representing our common interests, we would of course all retain the power of our own votes, but agree to seek counsel with each other in matters that would interest the whole. This fellowship would hold no formal bond."

"What would you call this then, assuming we were interested," the lady of Myr asked slowly.

"The Compact of the Crimson Dawn, for in the east the sun rises red, fit to kindle the hearts of all," the Hegemon of Volantis replied and he smiled, for he could see the light of that ambition reflected in the eyes of all around the table. There was much yet to talk of that night, and talk they did, deep into the night, of things near and things far... and some things beyond the borders of the world even.

OOC: Ok, this was a lot longer than I thought it would be, but yeah, meet Zherys' new faction. Not yet edited.
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Here's an edited version of the chapter, DP.

I can see where Zherys is coming from here. There's a lot of western Essos ready to be settled now that the Dothraki aren't a plague upon civilization and the Undead have been put down. Better to get Essosi immigrants in there than Westerosi peasants. It's not unlike Roose's faction and their aim to keep the North and its culture from being drowned in a tide of newcomers who don't respect their traditions and history.
 
Goldfish said:
Here's an edited version of the chapter, DP.

I can see where Zherys is coming from here. There's a lot of western Essos ready to be settled now that the Dothraki aren't a plague upon civilization and the Undead have been put down. Better to get Essosi immigrants in there than Westerosi peasants. It's not unlike Roose's faction and their aim to keep the North and its culture from being drowned in a tide of newcomers who don't respect their traditions and history.
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That makes Roose and Zherys natural allies then. They both want to keep their regions culturally homogenous so they can work together to make it so through deals of backing the other up.
 
Goldfish said:
There's a lot of western Essos ready to be settled now that the Dothraki aren't a plague upon civilization and the Undead have been put down.
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As far as I can tell the Undead are still an issue and any new settlers will need protection.

There won't be any undead armies with great magic and powerful artillery coming out of Sarnor anymore, but there are definitly still lots of lesser Undead, ghoulified Dothraki and their victims and all that running around.

Not a matter for full campaigns, but a constant security-risk that means every new settlement needs to invest in military and defences.
 
Artemis1992 said:
I wonder if the Westerosi Monarchists will be dumb enough to start an interest group.

Mace's Aces?
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If Mace is involved in naming it, I wouldn't be surprised by just about anything.

'Inheritors', as in Inheritors of the Court of Stars?

'The Reach for the Stars'?

'The Garden League'?

TARTS, maybe? 'Tyrell Appreciation for the Reach's Traditions and Society.
 
Artemis1992 said:
As far as I can tell the Undead are still an issue and any new settlers will need protection.

There won't be any undead armies with great magic and powerful artillery coming out of Sarnor anymore, but there are definitly still lots of lesser Undead, ghoulified Dothraki and their victims and all that running around.

Not a matter for full campaigns, but a constant security-risk that means every new settlement needs to invest in military and defences.
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They're an issue, but like you said, now they're the issue a well prepared band of adventurer's, squad of Legion cavalry, local militia, etc., should be able to handle.

That isn't a bad thing, however, in that they will keep people on their toes, encourage communities to support their local defenders, provide XP to baby adventurers, etc.
 
Artemis1992 said:
As far as I can tell the Undead are still an issue and any new settlers will need protection.

There won't be any undead armies with great magic and powerful artillery coming out of Sarnor anymore, but there are definitly still lots of lesser Undead, ghoulified Dothraki and their victims and all that running around.

Not a matter for full campaigns, but a constant security-risk that means every new settlement needs to invest in military and defences.
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Isn't that only really in and around Sarnor and therefor not a factor for colonizing say Volaena or Rhaesh Diwe or other places far enough away from the Sarnori Undead?
 
This has me pretty curious what other factions will form. Like will there be a Riverlands faction that works with the Vale group? What will Stannis do? Maybe another faction that involves the Stormlands, Northern and Southern Crownlands?
 
Artemis1992 said:
I wonder if the Westerosi Monarchists will be dumb enough to start an interest group.

Mace's Aces?
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Getting Mace to lead it would be dumb, but having one wouldn't be. It's not convenient for us, but they need some degree of cooperation to protect their political interests.

After all, there's plenty of room for the various regions of the imperium to shiv each other in the kidneys while staying 99.9% loyal to the throne. Not forming one is just asking to be eaten alive first by those who do.
 
Artemis1992 said:
As far as I can tell the Undead are still an issue and any new settlers will need protection.

There won't be any undead armies with great magic and powerful artillery coming out of Sarnor anymore, but there are definitly still lots of lesser Undead, ghoulified Dothraki and their victims and all that running around.

Not a matter for full campaigns, but a constant security-risk that means every new settlement needs to invest in military and defences.
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You see problem, Viserys see an XP pool for his wards.

Viserys: "Hey kids, wanna have an adventure?"

Jon Snow and Co.: "Sure!"

Viserys: "Alright then! Have fun hunting zombie horses! " *teleports them to the Dothraki Sea*

Jon Snow and Co.: "Wait n-"
 
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Daredevil_Dave said:
You see problem, Viserys see an XP pool for his wards.

Viserys: "Hey kids, wanna have an adventure?"

Jon Snow and Co.: "Sure!"

Viserys: "Alright then! Have fun hunting zombie horses! " *teleports them to the Dothraki Sea*

Jon Snow and Co.: "Wait n-"
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You joke but slapping the kids and an army in the undead wastes of the Dothraki fields is good practice for when the assholes of Winter show up
 
Daredevil_Dave said:
You see problem, Viserys see an XP pool for his wards.

Viserys: "Hey kids, wanna have an adventure?"

Jon Snow and Co.: "Sure!"

Viserys: "Alright then! Have fun hunting zombie horses! " *teleports them to the Dothraki Sea*

Jon Snow and Co.: "Wait n-"
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I mean, what did we get being dumped in the middle of the Dothraki sea via Teleport mishap?

-Swanking burning suit for Richard
-A family of brewers
-Essarians
-Unravelling Tiamat's Plot
-Spanking grandma
-Malarys

I think the result speaks for itself :V
 
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