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

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Syrax was the goddess of dreams. She probably did not allow Valyrians to dream back to the days of Dragons or later unless they had her blessing.
 
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Part MMCDXCV: Plotter's Due
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    • Plotter's Due​

    Eleventh Day of the Seventh Month 293 AC

    Setting aside the matter of unwanted rumors, you return to the meat of the discussion: "The thought is good, but not quite what I had in mind, magister. A coup there must be, but I would rather not have my friends and allies reap the harvest of resentment for it. Aedon's near death provides us with the opportunity to to lead him into believing it was a Spicer plot. Thus he might decapitate one collection of serpents before setting off to die in... ah, glorious battle."

    Jarlar laughs. "Glorious in the way of a mouse who charges boldly right into the cat's mouth, eh?" More seriously he adds, "Such a deed is unlikely to be subtle, most likely an assault on the palace by his troops... a sack."

    "A pity about all that will be lost," you agree. "Alas that there are times when the memory of the past must be sacrificed upon the altar of the future, though it is my hope than any precious works of art or rare texts lost can be recovered or restored in time."

    The magister gives you a startled look that passes smoothly into an almost sheepish shrug: "I was more worried about tax records and assessments than lore or art. A shift in administration would be tumultuous enough without the chaos of a sack to add to it. Changes in patronage will lead to significant payments to guarantee loyalty..." He cuts himself off on seeing your grim expression.

    "The nature of 'patronage' will transform once Lys comes under my rule, magister," you explain, your tone grim but with no real sharpness to it. That you reserve for people who have actually broken the law rather than making assumptions about what will be. "Mistake me not, I am not such a fool as to think there shall be no corruption in my realm, but I will not let it take root like weeds in an untended garden." With a smile you add: "There will be quite enough opportunities for the enrichment of those ready to grasp the future without slipping their fingers in the realm's coin purse."

    Being no fool himself Jarlar nods at once, but you do not leave it at that, spending the next hour explaining the potential of expanded trade routes, far-speech by brazier, and the ever more common use of magic to improve all aspects of life. "Few will be those willing to take the risks in the first years, but that is where the profits will the thickest," you finish. And so the man before you is well and truly hooked, much to your satisfaction.

    "One more thing, my lord," you add as the meeting nears its end. "You might want to start writing a list of your political foes."

    "My pleasure, Your Grace," the merchant prince replies with the widest smile you have ever seen upon his face. So might a shark smile at feast time.

    ***​

    Perhaps unsurprisingly, Lady Forlys wants nothing more than to return home after what she names 'the worst days of her life'. Though you briefly consider asking her to speak with Hermetia to see if she might be of some use to your efforts in Lys, in the end you decide against it. The Inquisition might have some use for her eventually... you think as you utter the last wish to restore her voice.

    In a fitting twist of irony the lecherous priest of Trios had met his end at the hands of a possessed servant, strangled with his own chain of office, thus sparing you from having to decide how best to deal with him while keeping to the bounds of your assumed guise. It is, however, the third surviving guest that presents the most in interest conundrum. 'Yargo' is in good spirits, and for that you can hardly blame him, for the curse that has so sapped his fellows even in the span of moments seems to have left him wholly untouched... and still you see no trace of magic upon him.

    What do you do?

    [] Confront Yargo
    -[] Write in

    [] Bid him farewell but see to it that he is kept under observation by your agents in Lys

    [] Write in

    OOC: I know the Tyrells keep getting pushed back but this is the last time, I promise.
     
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    • If Yargo is completely free of magical protection or obfuscation, he wouldn't even feel it if we hit with him a Targeted Greater Dispel Magic to see what, if anytbing, he is hiding.
     
    [X] Confront Yargo
    -[X] Just brazenly ask him if he ever drops that AMF or if he genuinely lives like that.

    I'm honestly out of good approaches for him.
     
    A Sword Without a Hilt: A Song of Ice and Fire/D&D 3.5 Crossover | Page 10233

    @DragonParadox
    Does that look ok for her?
    Nice mix of enchantment and illusion for many subtle options, some more obvious tricks if she has to use force.
    High social, Wisdom is rather low considering her decisions in her last life.

    With Practical Metamagic (Still Spell) she can add that metamagic to all her spells without using a higher slot, which is both nice in social situations and in emergencies.
    Silent is there for similar reasons, though she will use that less since she has several Language-reliant spells.
    Heighten because sometimes you really, really need one of those willsafe-negates spells to succede, so sacrificing a higher slot is reasonable.

    With Ancestral Awakening, Greater Shadow Enchantment and Bloodwish she has a lot of options if she needs something outside of her usual repertoire.

    Her powerwords are generally useful, @Azel if she wants to pull the "kill slave with a word" trick she can just use Valignat.

    Between Voice of the Dragon, Insidious Suggestion and Demanding Message I'd hate to talk to her without Mindblank, because she can definitly escalate to mindfuck if regular diplomacy doesn't cut it.
     
    @Azel A surreptitious Greater Dispel Magic, which Viserys can cast at 20th caster level using his upgraded Spell-Singer's Ring, could strip away whatever Yargo is using to hide any magic on his person.

    [X] Azel
     
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