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

Eleventh Day of the Ninth Month 294 AC

It had been a long while indeed since Garin Drekelis had feared something as trivial as heights. After all, a safe perch was never farther than the nearest shadow across some distant ledge. Yet as the lift began to slide downward into the depths of the fortress, the creaks and groans of its mechanisms mingling with the sputtering flame of its bound elemental, he was acutely aware that the shadows would grant no passage here... and it was a long way down to the bottom.

All thought of flying down was swiftly put paid to as he spotted the holes of launcher tubes, not one or two, not a dozen or a score, but ring upon ring of automated defenses that glowed with cherry-red flame like an eye half-lidded, sure to open in deadly full as soon as anyone was foolish enough to take this path alone. There was no real room to dodge and weave down here, not unless whoever designed the targeting solutions of these weapons was sporting enough to give one, and somehow he did not think the efreeti artificers were so accommodating of unexpected guests.

As though something had heard his thought, the bar under his fingers flashed white hot with lightning far too powerful for the silver thread in them to disperse. Garin could taste blood in his mouth, his own, bitter and unfulfilling as he bit his tongue against a gasp of pain.

Did they see? Did they know? He only had a moment to decide before the launchers would begin to shoot, and gods only knew what the mage hunter and his guards would do.

'The most important leap is often the one you do not make', Garin recalled his grandfather saying to him when he was a boy. Granted, the old man had meant leaps in finance and investment, not in the flesh, but the notion held. The golems did not react, the mage hunter did not shift in his position. It had been an automatic defense, one that would not harm the forged guards but would fry most flesh and blood infiltrators.

Finally, the lift began to slow and at the last moment Garin lept off to stay well clear of the shield bearing guards. He landed without a whisper of sound and froze in place. The amir passed him so close Garin could smell the flame cloves on his breath, but he was none the wiser. Garin breathed and turned his eye to the final stretch.

Three paths branched out from the chamber, one heading flameward, unbarred but filled with the bustle of scores of marching feet, the harsh voices of the officers driving their soldiers towards the lift, doubtless heading towards the upper halls to check on the destroyed armory. It was more than he could say how many of them had the means to pierce through glamor, but he was willing to bet it was more than one would prefer. Worse still was the fact that in the relatively narrow corridor sheer accident might see one of them knock into him. No amount of skill could make him intangible.

Then there was the middle way, wide and unbarred, empty for now and clearly the way the amir was going, perhaps allowing the High Inquisitor to follow in his wake and take advantage of the space he was granted to pass unknown. Alas, unknown also were many of the chambers along that path, save for the fact that on the rare instances when the commander of the fortress actually dwelt within his chambers that were along this corridor. It was possible that he would have his own passage unknown by others to reach the gate chamber, and thus from there the vault... or one could continue down the wide straight way there, though Garin mistrusted those words more than any other when it came to an infiltration.

Lastly there was the lower way, best known of the three, though also known to have no less than three checkpoints to keep unwanted guests out of the command center of the fortress. Could he wager on them being no more well-staffed and guarded than those on the upper level?


Which path do you take?

[] Upper path, straight to the gate room but crowded

[] Middle path, past the Malik's Quarters and several unknown rooms
-[] Enter the chambers themselves and look for some secret escape passage

[] The lower path, past the staff rooms

Does Garin try to navigate the passage alone or let the others out?

[] Go alone for stealth and speed

[] Let the others out so you have backup should the alarm be tripped

OOC: This feels a little mechanistic since I do not work with maps, hopefully I will get better at it now that I have gotten over my hesitation to make them. This has turned into a bit of a testbed for the notion. Also, Garin is down 52 HP from the electrified railing.