[X] Commune with R'hllor and see where your efforts are better focused. That attempt on Benerro seems far beyond what "consulting with priests" can accomplish. If he wants you to act overtly or discretely, there's little sense in ambiguity and red herrings from the clergy, none of whom can even agree with each other who their prophesized savior is. Or who are overly biased on that account.
 
From Banked Embers

Ninth Day of the Ninth Month 294 AC

"Are you sure you don't want me to do anything about it?" It is admittedly the third time you have asked the question in the last half hour, but you do not think it deserves quite that look from Lya.

"About what?" she snorts. "Gossips and gabbers impugning my 'virtue', truthfully, I might add? That is not a crime, unless you want to fill every jail in the realm with people who criticize the throne and the changes it has made to their lives."

"Technically it is a crime if they say it too loudly and with the intention of undermining the state," you note. Though you had gotten rid of the overly formal aspects of lèse majesté from the earlier law codes, which were in any case more concerned with ensuring the smallfolk scraped and bowed so low you could not see their faces, that does not mean there is no echo of the crime in Imperial jurisprudence. The Lannisters had taught you well how perilous a few poisoned words can be. The crime is, however, far more rigorously defined, and with enough teeth to it to affect even the nobility in case of a concerted campaign of slander. Granted, what you had heard was going around court was not that, but...

Lya has the same thought at the same time. "Being snide does not undermine the prestige and authority of the throne, and if they are going to make me the villain of their little morality play, then I shall pay them in kind. I think I will do a lecture tomorrow on the educational system of lost Valyria, purely from an academic perspective, you understand..." And fish would not smell in her mouth, as they say in Braavos.

You laugh. "Far be it from me to stand between you and your vengeance."

Both of you know, of course, it is about far more than any petty slight, the decision had ultimately been a political one. Lya's first move upon the proverbial board since she had become Imperatrix. It is for a cause she believes in and one she is well suited to championing, but still... You like to think one should be allowed a touch of unreasonable protectiveness of one's new bride, particularly when you were guilty of the same supposed transgression and no one seems to be raising any concerns of your character.

Behold the king who is troubled than he is not blamed for enough misdeeds, Varys hisses, amused in the silence of your thoughts. Take care what you wish for, thy wishes have weight.

***​

You could not say for certain if your familiar was touched by some shadow of prophecy or just proven skilled in guessing, but whatever the case, you receive word that very afternoon of strange doings in Volantis. There had been an attack on Benerro, not to kill but to capture. Though your first thought goes to the Lord of the Ninth and your second to the Red God's ancient foes, none of them are to blame from what little the diviners can see through the haze of glamor and false trails.

The hand of the Brazen Throne, the Heir of Iblis, moves again, though this time with a more insidious purpose. You doubt His agents would have tried to capture a sorcerer-priest as skilled as Benerro simply to kill him in some out of the way alleyway. You cannot foresee in this matter, for the agents are warded, but you too can guess. The Red Faith is powerful, prevalent, and linked to fire, and Benerro knows many of the secrets of his god, secrets that could well serve those seeking to infiltrate the faithful.

The question that now yawns before you is if the servants had dared to aim so high, how many others had not been as blessed or as skillful as Benerro in casting off their would be abductors.

How do you deal with the possibility of infiltrators targeting the Red Faith?

[] Make it public, set as many eyes as you can on the problem before it can grow

[] Work discretely with the Faith in Volantis and elsewhere to eliminate the threat

[] Write in


OOC: More background rolls. Don't worry about the chance to hit back you will be getting a delegation from some shaitans with an opportunity to do just that. Not yet edited.
Here's an edited version of the chapter, DP.
 
Now that we are married, do we have a plan for children? Are we letting nature take its course or going the designer baby route?
There seems to be general support for designer baby (in no small part due to the fact that Lya isn't keen on going through a pregnancy, and she can actively build a baby for her and Viserys).

Personally I think they should have a minimum of five kids over the next decade.
 
[X] Crake

Hopefully Big Red willing to talk.

You think the Saltan would seek to take Yemeri's place with her dead and her godhood gone?
 
[X] Crake

I love Viserys working relationship with most of the "Imperial" Deities.

"Yo R'hllor, it's Viserys. No, I still don't want that job, I'll never want that job stop asking. Anyway, the guy from the Brass City is getting cocky in my turf again, went after one of your guys this time, wanna gang up on him or what?"
 
[X] Crake

I love Viserys working relationship with most of the "Imperial" Deities.

"Yo R'hllor, it's Viserys. No, I still don't want that job, I'll never want that job stop asking. Anyway, the guy from the Brass City is getting cocky in my turf again, went after one of your guys this time, wanna gang up on him or what?"

In the words of a wiseman, named Omar...

"I got the shotgun... you got the briefcase... it's all in the game though, right?"

It's all relative.
 
Are there any other general precautions we can take on this? It seems unlikely to me that the Efreeti would only be running one concurrent operation if they've already got enough local influence to pull something like this.

Maybe we could give our VIPs some centrally monitored Agent's Clasps? Being able to constantly check their status and exchange messages instantaneously would be very useful.

Perhaps something discreet enchanted with Revenant Armor as well, so that even if they get rendered unconscious they aren't made helpless and still sort of resist capture.

For really important people a regular set of Elixir of Emulation fueled body doubles under a False Future effect might be useful as well.
 
There seems to be general support for designer baby (in no small part due to the fact that Lya isn't keen on going through a pregnancy, and she can actively build a baby for her and Viserys).

Personally I think they should have a minimum of five kids over the next decade.
I stand by the opinion that Viserys and Lya can hardly afford the time to be good parents to anyone and I am absolutly against children for as long as we activly play the quest.
Maybe in some epilogue that has Viserys' settle down a bit from personally and autocratically ruling the world, but not within years to come.

Edit: For evidence see the fact that we see our "wards" maybe once every few months.
 
I stand by the opinion that Viserys and Lya can hardly afford the time to be good parents to anyone and I am absolutly against children for as long as we activly play the quest.
Maybe in some epilogue that has Viserys' settle down a bit from personally and autocratically ruling the world, but not within years to come.

Edit: For evidence see the fact that we see our "wards" maybe once every few months.
We can make simalcrums to solve that problem and leaving a simalcrum in the imperial palace isnt such a bad idea.
 
This is literally the problem he complained about.
I dont get it.A simalcrum which doesnt need to fight that much which we can use for sitting on the throne and managing the nobility and also taking care of children while our real body can do what it wants is very much useful.I dont really understand whats the problem with that
 
I dont get it.A simalcrum which doesnt need to fight that much which we can use for sitting on the throne and managing the nobility and also taking care of children while our real body can do what it wants is very much useful.I dont really understand whats the problem with that
A: Simulacra are limited copies of people, there are reasons we never used the spell to create teachers or administrators by copying Lya and Viserys, and those reasons are not just security concerns.
B: It's still emotional and practical detachement from the actual issues of child-raising, I'd hate to outsource that kind of stuff.
 
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