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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:
I was going to do a Glyra interlude about her spying on Melisandre to find out what spells she would use in he fight, but as I was writing it I realized it would be out of character for Glyra to invade someone's privacy like that when they were not an enemy (Since she would have had to sneak in and listen to Mel pray) so that idea had to be scrapped.
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You could still do it, just with Glyra realizing in the middle of Mels prayer that she overstepped and leaving.
 
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Interlude CDXXV: Fire's Secrets Kept
  • Threadmarks
    • Fire's Secrets Kept​

    Twenty-Eighth Day of the Eighth Month 293 AC

    "So do you think we can best her?" Wyla Drekelis asked as she looked pensively out of the tower window onto the shadowy void that lingered beyond. There was no need to say who 'she' was. Only one of their opponents in tomorrow's fight would be a woman, only one of them would matter from what they had seen of Thoros of Myr. A man who had been introduced to King Viserys as a corpse left behind by some devil's schemes did not trouble the Lady of Naath too much.

    "I think there is a chance, how good of a one I could not say." Teana Strycos sounded less pensive and more wary. "She did not look particularly troubled by the notion of fighting us in the Wastes, not even once the King had shown himself. Nor does she seem a fool, this Melisandre of Asshai. Fools do not dwell in the Dark City, least of all long enough to claim it for their own."

    "You think she has actually been to Asshai?" The pale sorceress' eyes sparked with keen interest. She had thought about journeying there after leaving Lys, but caution had won out in the end. There of all the places in this world the locals would have been most likely to know her for what she was, and the Curse of Blood had made her uniquely vulnerable to a well-prepared foe. If there was one thing she did not miss from those days it was the helplessness of daytime slumber before she had learned to ward away the sun's light with her magic.

    "Oh... yes," the Headmistress of the Scholarum replied firmly. "I know her sort. She might well lie when she thinks it in the name of her God, but at her heart she is sincere as only a fanatic can be."

    "A pity she is not as open about the substance of her magic, then. It would be so much easier to plan ahead if we had notion of her powers beyond the love of fire we might have guessed from her choice of patron...." Wyla trailed off, a thought occurring to her. It was not something she would have tried if the stakes were higher, but this was only for cheers and gold, or so one could easily claim, though any information gained could well be worth far more in the long run.

    Still looking into the twisting shadows she centered her mind and began to chant that the darkness may carry her words far away: "Glyra, I have a task for you, if you would take it."

    ***​

    From shadow to shadow moved the darkling fey, her laughter unheard but felt in the eddies of the night wind. On threads of steel she swung, light as a feather in the air, beyond what even the sharpest eyes could see. She had never liked the Pale Lady before, too grim and proud, the scent of old blood still clinging to her robes even once she had stepped from darkness into twilight, but for the gift she had given her this night Glyra liked her very much. The shard of emerald snake-stone was heavier in the mind than in the flesh, the veil upon it subtler and more terrible than any she had ever worked, a gift such as she had never thought to have. She could pickpocket a Fallen One like this, she had Sarell check before departing, not that she was after such meager game this day.

    Sneak into a temple and spy on the chosen of a god...     Giddy and carefree the fey spirit ran on from roof to roof and step to step upon the path that only she could see.

    It was the simplest thing to play the orphan waif begging for scraps and charm the cook into letting her stay the night rather than risk the darkened streets. The hardest part was not turning her nose up at being offered charity in the name of a god. There were worse things mortals did in the name of those over-stuffed things she supposed.

    Unseen, she crept to the ancient steps, not a single creak to mark her passage. Wards and snares there were a plenty in her path, but Glyra did not falter for she could cling to walls and float through the air as easily as walking on her own two feet.

    Finally the dark fey came the the sanctum, where the power of R'hllor burned with heatless flame upon a stone altar, the strange incense wafting through the air. Here stood the sorceress she sought, her crimson hair unbound, her eyes firmly pointed at the single door into the chamber even as she laid down her scrolls and began to chant her spells of praise. Magic hung around her louder than the hiss of the flames and brighter than its light.

    She did not see, she did not hear, but Glyra heard it her clearly, the chants of praise, the thrice-sung mysteries of shadow, the way they were spun together as one. A uncommon feeling crept over her then, one that would once have been as alien to her as flight to a fish. Guilt gnawed at her who would have once reveled in mischief of the darkest sort. Glyra did not understand and never could why morals valued their gods so, why they praised them so fervently or bled so readily in their service, but she heard the sincerity of the words just the same, the truths that were not for her so hear, and so unheard, unseen, she slipped from the chamber and back to the kitchen.

    The Pale Lady would just have to live with her disappointment and they would all deal with the Red Woman's magic as it came.

    OOC: Well, Glyra just earned a level up for this regardless, this was not an easy feat.
     
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  • Threadmarks
    • Ah, Glyra, you've come so far.

    @DragonParadox At some point will Glyra Pokevolve into a new type of Fey, or will she simply grow into a more powerful and unique Erinat?
     
    With that level Glyra could steal a level 5 spell.
    Maybe a Viserys-grade Baleful Polymorph to take out Thoros in one move.

    Then the entire party could focus on Melissandre without being distracted by the little warpriest (he's not powerful, but he has to be taken care of anyway, or else he distracts the casters too much.)
     
    firefrog600 said:
    YYESSSSSSS YYEEEEEESSSSSSS THE TIME HAS COME FOR STAR WARS REFERENCES! HAHAHAAAAHAHAHAAAAA!
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    I don't much care if my plan doesn't win, but I dislike the idea of people voting for an option simply because it apes a Star Wars backstory. This is actually a serious occasion, where we are dealing with the representative of the preeminent Assassin's Guild on the planet. It's not the time to half-ass it.

    EDIT: That said, I don't think there is anything wrong with @DarkLight140's plan, except the tone doesn't quite seem to fit the character we've crafted for this alias.
     
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    @DragonParadox, there's an error on Glyra's sheet (Mystical Subjects threadmark). She's listed as having Sneak Attack +2d6 when she should have +3d6. One of her skills ("Sleight of Hand") is misspelled.

    I can't believe she's already level 10 ! Great job Glyra !

    @Goldfish, she doesn't get a feat, ability points or new class feature beyond "can absorb 5th level spells". However she gets 1 extra spell per day (I suggest Wrathstrike or Whirling Blade) and 5 new skill points (how does she only have Int 8?!?) which I would put in Bluff, Sleight of Hand, Hide, Move Silently and Use Magic Device.
     
    People, the joke option is actually winning !
    Adhoc vote count started by TalonofAnathrax on Mar 31, 2019 at 7:21 AM, finished with 86 posts and 9 votes.
    • [x] The Palace of Dusk is not known for its morality, but I was raised far from its center. My father was blessed with a bloodline of power and exalted for it, but my mother feared the intrigues and unrest of the halls of power and arranged for me to be raised by one she trusted lest I die before coming into my strength. The man she chose was a good one, who did not deal in sorcery and concealed from me many of my father's ills, giving me a somewhat rosy view of him. That was shattered rather brutally after my guardian's violent death- it turns out that it is very difficult to outrun one's past.
      -[x] With my home gone and knives in the back a constant worry, I turned to sorcery for power. It was the only tool available, yet even as I took it up I learned of one horror after another it had perpetrated. I wondered; if I began to walk down the dark path, would it forever dominate my destiny? Certainly it seemed to be the case for those in the Palace, but it is difficult to know whether a man has his nature twisted to wickedness by dark powers or simply by power alone. I could not risk it; I resolved to be better than my father, to learn arts wherever I could but bend them always to the betterment of others and reject the temptations of the darkness.
      -[x] I shall not go into my past in too much detail, but ultimately I found that power came together with the willingness to face seemingly indomitable forces while unflinching. Whether the ills I faced were simply perpetrated by the callousness and evil of those with power or a more personal legacy related to my father's many surviving enemies, a mix of careful planning and desperate will saw me rise of the occasion- though more than once a trusted friend had to save my life, and I made some mistakes I regret to this day. I grew in power and wisdom bit by bit with each victory, and by the time I had come to the attention of those in power my prowess was such that they were more interested in inviting me to join them than in paying the price for bringing me down.
      [X] "While I originally hail from Qarth, I spent little time there as a child and even less as a man grown. It was but the first step on a journey spanning creation itself, one which I return to now out of familiarity and nostalgia.
      -[X] "Although magic has once more flowered upon the Garden, there have long existed rare sites which somehow held a remnant of ancient power. Even more rare, however, were those places which did not so much serve as a reservoir for lingering magic, but instead acted as a timeworn bridge between disparate Planes, allowing a slow trickle of otherworldly energy to coalesce, often with unexpected results.
      --[X] "It was one of these places, where the barriers of reality itself grew thin and mystical wonders were still possible, even decades ago, that I discovered as a child of just three and ten. Of course, at the time I thought myself ready to be called a man, but few are those who cannot look upon their past selves and despair at their childish naivety.
      ---[X] "And so I found myself in another world, where the skies shone like molten steel and the air was like the breath of a freshly stoked forge. Needless to say, it was an unpleasant introduction to the greater cosmos, and one which nearly killed me a dozen times over in my first handspan of days there.
      ----[X] "Life was harsh, but I persevered, aided by the awakening of my magic. With magic came power, and through the exercise of that power life grew bearable, then comfortable. I did not forget about the world of my birth, known among creation as the Plane of Balance, but neither did I let its absence rule my existence.
      -----[X] "What good was it to long for that which I could not have? Luck and happenstance had brought me to the Molten Skies, but no amount of research or treasure could have opened the way for my return to the Garden. I instead contented myself exploring the many Planes, gathering power and lore, and no small amount of wealth. And then a disaster struck, or a miracle was granted, depending upon whom you ask.
      ------[X] "Much changed among the Planes with the realignment of the spheres, not least of all the reopening of the Plane of Balance to one such as I, who had not stepped foot on native soil for nearly two score years."
      -------[X] "So to answer your question, I grew mighty not in the shadow of the Palace of Dusk, but as far from it as any man could ever hope to be."
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    Goldfish said:
    I don't much care if my plan doesn't win, but I dislike the idea of people voting for an option simply because it apes a Star Wars backstory. This is actually a serious occasion, where we are dealing with the representative of the preeminent Assassin's Guild on the planet. It's not the time to half-ass it.

    EDIT: That said, I don't think there is anything wrong with @DarkLight140's plan, except the tone doesn't quite seem to fit the character we've crafted for this alias.
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    thats fair.
     
    TalonofAnathrax said:
    @DragonParadox, there's an error on Glyra's sheet (Mystical Subjects threadmark). She's listed as having Sneak Attack +2d6 when she should have +3d6. One of her skills ("Sleight of Hand") is misspelled.

    I can't believe she's already level 10 ! Great job Glyra !

    @Goldfish, she doesn't get a feat, ability points or new class feature beyond "can absorb 5th level spells". However she gets 1 extra spell per day (I suggest Wrathstrike or Whirling Blade) and 5 new skill points (how does she only have Int 8?!?) which I would put in Bluff, Sleight of Hand, Hide, Move Silently and Use Magic Device.
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    Erinat's aren't the sharpest tools in the shed. I've been considering a +2 Intelligence boost to her gear just to somewhat mitigate that malus, though it wouldn't really have much impact mechanically.
     
    Goldfish said:
    Erinat's aren't the sharpest tools in the shed. I've been considering a +2 Intelligence boost to her gear just to somewhat mitigate that malus, though it wouldn't really have much impact mechanically.
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    Isn't it a +13 skill points if she wears it all the time? That's a maxxed social skill, right there!
    I thought that that was how we'd been running things here.
     
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