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

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Crake said:
The reason no one took the idea of a Dream incursion into their fortress seriously is they are sure to have some heavy-duty astral defenses. As in, Winterfell's rune arrangements, fully manned.
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Presuming they are in their main fortress, not a disposable location....or they're just stupid. Never assume the enemy is smarter than you, as they say.
 
Scholar of Time said:
Presuming they are in their main fortress, not a disposable location....or they're just stupid. Never assume the enemy is smarter than you, as they say.
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Doesn't have to be a main fortress, the runes could be basic and they would still be more comprehensive wards than ritual variety ones, and you don't want to face whatever Dream defenders they've got while going in with subterfuge in mind. In that situation you want a group of PCs with a balanced combat loadout.

Edit: To add to the earlier question of "why don't we abuse Dany's PRC more?"

The short answer is that the people we could get away with it against are laughably defenseless to it.

The ones who have defenses against it have overwhelmingly paranoid ones because it is that scary to deal with.
Adhoc vote count started by Crake on Apr 3, 2019 at 3:18 AM, finished with 178 posts and 13 votes.
  • [X] Attempt to rescue Jeyne;
    -[X] Use multiple Divination spells, along with assistance from Vee's Hallucinogenic Smoke & Augury spells, to determine A) if it will be safe to temporarily wake Jeyne to warn her come back when we call for her, explaining that she will understand when the time is right (if it is safe, do so, if it is not, we'll have to chance it without warning her first), B) is what we plan to attempt possible, and C) would examining Roger decrease our odds of successfully freeing Jeyne.
    -[X] If the plan has a chance of succeeding, after fully preparing themselves (using Divine Insight, Grand Destiny, Nine Lives, etc.), the group attempts to draw Jeyne's soul and consciousness fully into the puppet body.
    -[X] Malarys will use the sympathetic connection the puppet body shares with her original body to curse Jeyne using the Staff of Ages, reducing her Constitution attribute to one point.
    --[X] Lya prepares Malarys to use the Staff of Ages first by activating her Bead of Karma to increase her Divine caster level to 20th, then casting Moment of Greatness and Harmonic Chorus on herself. She then cancels her Moment of Greatness spell to increase the caster level bonus from Harmonic Chorus to +4 while using Inspired Spell to place a 26th level Owl's Insight spell on Malarys, raising his Wisdom attribute to 39 and his Wisdom bonus to +14 (increasing the save DC of Bestow Greater Curse to 31). She places another Moment of Greatness and Harmonic Chorus spell on him before he completes the ritual, so that he can use them in conjunction with his own Bead of Karma to increase his caster level to 22.
    --[X] Timing it so that he completes the spell just as Malarys finishes cursing Jeyne's true body, Viserys uses Ancestral Awakening to learn the Maximize Spell Metamagic feat then casts a Maximized Nightmare spell using Wild Arcana to inflict 10 points of damage upon her, slaying her instantly.
    --[X] As the original body dies, Dany will simultaneously assist Lya in locating the Astral link shared between Jeyne and her flesh puppet so that she can use the full weight of her Mythic Power and deep understanding of the mysteries of the human soul to funnel Jeyne's liberated soul into the vacant puppet via Inspired Spell (nebulously borrowing from such Divine spells as Cyclic Reincarnation, Resurrection, Magic Jar, etc).
    --[X] Vee remains on standby to assist however she can, from providing additional Divine magic to the impromptu ritual to using Alter Fortune should it prove necessary.
    -[X] If successful, immediately return her to a Smoky Confinement bottle until a ritual to destroy her original body can be devised or we can receive Divine aid (from Yss, the Merling King, etc) to accomplish it.
    [X] Plan So Long And Thanks For The Psionics - Redux
    -[X] Prepare the body for a ritual akin to Soulbind, so that it takes in Jeynes soul when her original body dies.
    -[X] Check by Divination if her original body would survive the first check of Mummy Rot. If not proceed, else use @Goldfish plan.
    -[X] Use the sympathetic connection to her original body and the Greater Curse staff, in conjunction with Viserys and Lya throwing their full Mythic might behind it to curse Jeynes original body with Contagious Mummy Rot, DC and CL adjusted to Viserys levels.
    -[X] If you can conduct a 2 hour ritual and have both effects hit at the end of it simultaneously, also curse her CON to 1.
    [X] Before doing anything to rescue Jeynes, check Roger per the previous methods to make sure that by rescuing one we don't condemn another.
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Adhoc vote count started by Crake on Apr 3, 2019 at 3:19 AM, finished with 179 posts and 13 votes.
  • [X] Attempt to rescue Jeyne;
    -[X] Use multiple Divination spells, along with assistance from Vee's Hallucinogenic Smoke & Augury spells, to determine A) if it will be safe to temporarily wake Jeyne to warn her come back when we call for her, explaining that she will understand when the time is right (if it is safe, do so, if it is not, we'll have to chance it without warning her first), B) is what we plan to attempt possible, and C) would examining Roger decrease our odds of successfully freeing Jeyne.
    -[X] If the plan has a chance of succeeding, after fully preparing themselves (using Divine Insight, Grand Destiny, Nine Lives, etc.), the group attempts to draw Jeyne's soul and consciousness fully into the puppet body.
    -[X] Malarys will use the sympathetic connection the puppet body shares with her original body to curse Jeyne using the Staff of Ages, reducing her Constitution attribute to one point.
    --[X] Lya prepares Malarys to use the Staff of Ages first by activating her Bead of Karma to increase her Divine caster level to 20th, then casting Moment of Greatness and Harmonic Chorus on herself. She then cancels her Moment of Greatness spell to increase the caster level bonus from Harmonic Chorus to +4 while using Inspired Spell to place a 26th level Owl's Insight spell on Malarys, raising his Wisdom attribute to 39 and his Wisdom bonus to +14 (increasing the save DC of Bestow Greater Curse to 31). She places another Moment of Greatness and Harmonic Chorus spell on him before he completes the ritual, so that he can use them in conjunction with his own Bead of Karma to increase his caster level to 22.
    --[X] Timing it so that he completes the spell just as Malarys finishes cursing Jeyne's true body, Viserys uses Ancestral Awakening to learn the Maximize Spell Metamagic feat then casts a Maximized Nightmare spell using Wild Arcana to inflict 10 points of damage upon her, slaying her instantly.
    --[X] As the original body dies, Dany will simultaneously assist Lya in locating the Astral link shared between Jeyne and her flesh puppet so that she can use the full weight of her Mythic Power and deep understanding of the mysteries of the human soul to funnel Jeyne's liberated soul into the vacant puppet via Inspired Spell (nebulously borrowing from such Divine spells as Cyclic Reincarnation, Resurrection, Magic Jar, etc).
    --[X] Vee remains on standby to assist however she can, from providing additional Divine magic to the impromptu ritual to using Alter Fortune should it prove necessary.
    -[X] If successful, immediately return her to a Smoky Confinement bottle until a ritual to destroy her original body can be devised or we can receive Divine aid (from Yss, the Merling King, etc) to accomplish it.
    [X] Plan So Long And Thanks For The Psionics - Redux
    -[X] Prepare the body for a ritual akin to Soulbind, so that it takes in Jeynes soul when her original body dies.
    -[X] Check by Divination if her original body would survive the first check of Mummy Rot. If not proceed, else use @Goldfish plan.
    -[X] Use the sympathetic connection to her original body and the Greater Curse staff, in conjunction with Viserys and Lya throwing their full Mythic might behind it to curse Jeynes original body with Contagious Mummy Rot, DC and CL adjusted to Viserys levels.
    -[X] If you can conduct a 2 hour ritual and have both effects hit at the end of it simultaneously, also curse her CON to 1.
    [X] Before doing anything to rescue Jeynes, check Roger per the previous methods to make sure that by rescuing one we don't condemn another.
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Vote Tally.
Adhoc vote count started by DragonParadox on Apr 3, 2019 at 3:18 AM, finished with 179 posts and 13 votes.
  • [X] Attempt to rescue Jeyne;
    -[X] Use multiple Divination spells, along with assistance from Vee's Hallucinogenic Smoke & Augury spells, to determine A) if it will be safe to temporarily wake Jeyne to warn her come back when we call for her, explaining that she will understand when the time is right (if it is safe, do so, if it is not, we'll have to chance it without warning her first), B) is what we plan to attempt possible, and C) would examining Roger decrease our odds of successfully freeing Jeyne.
    -[X] If the plan has a chance of succeeding, after fully preparing themselves (using Divine Insight, Grand Destiny, Nine Lives, etc.), the group attempts to draw Jeyne's soul and consciousness fully into the puppet body.
    -[X] Malarys will use the sympathetic connection the puppet body shares with her original body to curse Jeyne using the Staff of Ages, reducing her Constitution attribute to one point.
    --[X] Lya prepares Malarys to use the Staff of Ages first by activating her Bead of Karma to increase her Divine caster level to 20th, then casting Moment of Greatness and Harmonic Chorus on herself. She then cancels her Moment of Greatness spell to increase the caster level bonus from Harmonic Chorus to +4 while using Inspired Spell to place a 26th level Owl's Insight spell on Malarys, raising his Wisdom attribute to 39 and his Wisdom bonus to +14 (increasing the save DC of Bestow Greater Curse to 31). She places another Moment of Greatness and Harmonic Chorus spell on him before he completes the ritual, so that he can use them in conjunction with his own Bead of Karma to increase his caster level to 22.
    --[X] Timing it so that he completes the spell just as Malarys finishes cursing Jeyne's true body, Viserys uses Ancestral Awakening to learn the Maximize Spell Metamagic feat then casts a Maximized Nightmare spell using Wild Arcana to inflict 10 points of damage upon her, slaying her instantly.
    --[X] As the original body dies, Dany will simultaneously assist Lya in locating the Astral link shared between Jeyne and her flesh puppet so that she can use the full weight of her Mythic Power and deep understanding of the mysteries of the human soul to funnel Jeyne's liberated soul into the vacant puppet via Inspired Spell (nebulously borrowing from such Divine spells as Cyclic Reincarnation, Resurrection, Magic Jar, etc).
    --[X] Vee remains on standby to assist however she can, from providing additional Divine magic to the impromptu ritual to using Alter Fortune should it prove necessary.
    -[X] If successful, immediately return her to a Smoky Confinement bottle until a ritual to destroy her original body can be devised or we can receive Divine aid (from Yss, the Merling King, etc) to accomplish it.
    [X] Plan So Long And Thanks For The Psionics - Redux
    -[X] Prepare the body for a ritual akin to Soulbind, so that it takes in Jeynes soul when her original body dies.
    -[X] Check by Divination if her original body would survive the first check of Mummy Rot. If not proceed, else use @Goldfish plan.
    -[X] Use the sympathetic connection to her original body and the Greater Curse staff, in conjunction with Viserys and Lya throwing their full Mythic might behind it to curse Jeynes original body with Contagious Mummy Rot, DC and CL adjusted to Viserys levels.
    -[X] If you can conduct a 2 hour ritual and have both effects hit at the end of it simultaneously, also curse her CON to 1.
    [X] Before doing anything to rescue Jeynes, check Roger per the previous methods to make sure that by rescuing one we don't condemn another.
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Guys, aren't you overlooking a minor detail - the mindflayers created the clone body. Are you really sure they didn't include safeties? Nothing like we did with Varys, but keeping some flesh of the copy for the sympathetic link for example.
Edit: That might be the plan in the plan.
 
All snowfire needs to do to stop being a puppy is to change his picture. Fortunately I have one thats great for him.

[/
] Truly an American hero.
 
Scholar of Time said:
Just as an aside - I'm not sure, but Teleport Object is a one-way effect plus dispel...so no Dany dream required. In any case, it's all over but the screaming now :)
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This happens regularly. People have to crawl out of the woodwork during overnight votes that don't begin with heavy discussion.


MTB said:
Guys, aren't you overlooking a minor detail - the mindflayers created the clone body. Are you really sure they didn't include safeties? Nothing like we did with Varys, but keeping some flesh of the copy for the sympathetic link for example.
Edit: That might be the plan in the plan.
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This is inevitably the case, I think. One of my first suggestions was just to make sure that they couldn't target Jeyne with anything they might have in reserve.

We have no means of stopping them from using samples to frame her or us for something (by association) if that's their goal short of attacking them. Unless it's stored in a minor outpost, there's not much hope of sneaking in without being noticed anyway, though technically it's possible, we have Mindblank items. They won't divine who did it.

Edit: Though given her presence with us/in SD, which they know about it, it would be difficult to hide unless we framed someone else plausible.
 
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My hope is that by shoving a infectious magical disease through the link, we get all samples infected. We might even do potentially serious damage to their infrastructure with that, as there is no telling how their Psionic radio dish setup will react to getting super-leprosy shoved through it in the wrong direction.

Yet this whole thing stays within the letter of the truce.
 
Azel said:
My hope is that by shoving a infectious magical disease through the link, we get all samples infected. We might even do potentially serious damage to their infrastructure with that, as there is no telling how their Psionic radio dish setup will react to getting super-leprosy shoved through it in the wrong direction.

Yet this whole thing stays within the letter of the truce.
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Horribly contagious rule-following horror....and also super-leprosy!

Lol.
 
Azel said:
My hope is that by shoving a infectious magical disease through the link, we get all samples infected. We might even do potentially serious damage to their infrastructure with that, as there is no telling how their Psionic radio dish setup will react to getting super-leprosy shoved through it in the wrong direction.

Yet this whole thing stays within the letter of the truce.
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I love you azel your mind excites me.
 
Azel said:
My hope is that by shoving a infectious magical disease through the link, we get all samples infected. We might even do potentially serious damage to their infrastructure with that, as there is no telling how their Psionic radio dish setup will react to getting super-leprosy shoved through it in the wrong direction.

Yet this whole thing stays within the letter of the truce.
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Oops. If they cloned the puppet-body with flesh from the original, would the curse also infect it?
 
Artemis1992 said:
[X] Goldfish


Why?
As far as we know he's just a knight, we get a dozen for a dime of those.

This is about the chance to get a genuine Psion.
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Two reasons primarily.

The first being, this guy has suspicious timing in all of this. If he's her handler then we want to know sooner rather than later. If he's another victim, then we should help him. Also that means that he's another sympathetic connection we can exploit, and this body may be able to do psionics as well gaining us our first Psionic Martial.

The second reason amounts to, Jeynes has been relying on Roger both martially and emotionally. If he dies in our care that'll isolate her and just generally make her life more difficult and mental state less stable.

@Azel spending a divination to see if checking out Roger will negatively affect Jeynes's chances through all of this would help from a preventative mental health standpoint and give us deniability for throwing Roger to the sharks if checking him out would indeed negatively affect Jeynes's chances.
 
Walliseatscheese said:
Two reasons primarily.

The first being, this guy has suspicious timing in all of this. If he's her handler then we want to know sooner rather than later. If he's another victim, then we should help him. Also that means that he's another sympathetic connection we can exploit, and this body may be able to do psionics as well gaining us our first Psionic Martial.

The second reason amounts to, Jeynes has been relying on Roger both martially and emotionally. If he dies in our care that'll isolate her and just generally make her life more difficult and mental state less stable.

@Azel spending a divination to see if checking out Roger will negatively affect Jeynes's chances through all of this would help from a preventative mental health standpoint and give us deniability for throwing Roger to the sharks if checking him out would indeed negatively affect Jeynes's chances.
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So what you're saying is we basically need to save her emotional support knight.

I mean we could always just get her a new one, but if this one has sentimental value I suppose we could save it.

Bit of a bother, but we've done a lot more for less. Besides it's another poke in those fishfuckers' eyes and I am nothing if not exceedingly petty.
 
Personally I think we should recover Jeyne's original body, if this body she has now was merely a backup for her, then we could do far more risky research on it, if it becomes her only body, then we have to be somewhat less invasive in our experiments.
 
tarrangar said:
Personally I think we should recover Jeyne's original body, if this body she has now was merely a backup for her, then we could do far more risky research on it, if it becomes her only body, then we have to be somewhat less invasive in our experiments.
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Clockwork body = we can dissect this one to our heart's desire
Reincarnation = we can dissect this body to our heart's desire.

Basically, had we even had a need to do invasive experiments, we could do them because we all but perfected our soul-transferring techniques.

Thankfully, there is no such need.
We aren't getting psychic creatures via Mossforge either way, so non-invasive research it is.
 
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Some additions.

[X] Plan So Long And Thanks For The Psionics - Mark III
-[X] Prepare the body for a ritual akin to Soulbind, so that it takes in Jeynes soul when her original body dies. Include preparing the body to resist the curse or to decurse it immediately if necessary.
-[X] Check by Divination if her original body would survive the first check of Mummy Rot. If not proceed, else use @Goldfish plan.
-[X] Also check if examining or waking the knight would negatively affect our chances to pull this off and do so if it doesn't.
--[X] Brief him on the how and why of everything. He has no say in this, but there is no reason to make this obvious when we can make him feel included.
-[X] Use the sympathetic connection to her original body and all others parts of her, and use the Greater Curse staff, in conjunction with Viserys and Lya throwing their full Mythic might behind it to curse Jeynes parts with Contagious Mummy Rot, DC and CL adjusted to Viserys levels.
-[X] If you can conduct a 2 hour ritual and have both effects hit at the end of it simultaneously, also curse her CON to 1.
 
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Canon Omake: A Night Out on The Town
  • Threadmarks
    • Omake: A night out on the town

    Nighttime wasn't supposed to be blinding. They'd waited for hours before leaving the mist-filled temple to avoid the sun, and now this? It wasn't enough for them to neglect to build proper secondary tunnels, but they had to fill the streets with spell-light too?

    If not for the familiar necessities of stealth, Morwyn would have been swearing as he slipped on his sundark goggles.

    They protected him from light-blindness, but they diminished his superior eyesight. Why, he was barely any better than the ape-kin all around him!

    Tuin chuckled.

    "Shall we walk among the beast-kin? Or will you hide here all night until you can bear the thought of living here?"
    The new lips of his Essarian form twisted his words somewhat, the True Tongue's melodies sounding positively foreign.
    He endured the indignity for convenience's sake, of course - but apparently, Morwyn would not.

    "Are you quite done mangling the tongue of your betters, you furred and stunted mockery of a proper sentient?"

    As he spoke, he flicked his fellow assassin off his shoulder. No true Drow would allow a pet to sit upon him! Letting this stand would reveal Tuin's true nature, and thus power. Doing this was an integral part of the disguise, and certainly not petty revenge.
    "Speak a language local priests and mages will understand, [scurrying-slave-thing]."

    "Yes, [Greater One]" replied the monkey in proper Abyssal.
    He spoke with proper servility, and followed slightly behind Morwyn as they stepped out onto the ridiculously lit streets. Not quite trying to hide in public, but easy to underestimate in the event of a challenge. Hidden magic behind Morwyn's hidden blades: the natural state of independent Drow walking streets where House agents or independent competitors could strike.
    Such were the ways of the Dark City.

    But of course, those were not the ways of the Dragon's den.

    Here countless hairless beast-kin walked without fear of their betters, entering their crude buildings as if they could own them. One even dared to sing in his horrid tongue! Shameless, the lot of them.

    Morwyn left the first man-thing to push them in the crowd mewling in the dirt, but alive.

    They were left alone after that, though a grey-cloaked man did move towards them before quailing under the dark elf's glare.

    And of course the pink-skinned beast-kin the Dragon had called "humans" utterly failed to speak Abyssal.

    Tuin could cast spells to handle the issue... In twelve hours. For now, they found themselves alone in a strange land without knowing its dangers or common tongue, without any of its coin or even proper respect from its inhabitants.

    Morwyn was making no effort to hide his nature, and the "humans" didn't even seem to know what it meant !

    They had successfully infiltrated the accursed ceremonies of Shaz'n'Gurath, the High Temple to the Spider of House Xorlabbin, and countless surface slave settlements living in fear of hunters from the deep. This shouldn't be so aggravating!

    Nevertheless, something about this place was deeply unpleasant. This was the greatest city of the age of Mending ? Magic returned, and these uncouth beast-kin were the greatest race left alive? Their language was hideous, their craftsmanship crude, and their city one-dimensional. Oh, the slave races were happy here, but was that really worth accepting to live in such a hovel?

    Well, they didn't seem to have much of a choice. The Dragon had left them here among his hoard of mortals, and they no longer knew who to call upon for swift transportation. Their contacts and bargains had all fallen to dust, lost in time. Tuin had tried to call upon the ancient wardings of the City, but they no longer answered his call or even shone upon the horizon. And Morwyn had summoned his bound spy-fiend, only to be answered by ash reeking of Dragonfire and the destruction of the binding focus.

    They crisscrossed the Dragon's city, searching for something. They knew a multitude of signs and call-symbols from the Dark City and beyond, all indicating safe rest or proper contacts where hired blades and poison could find new associates.
    But this city hosted none that they could recognize, and by dawn the pair was getting a little worried. Would they have to learn an inferior language? Would they have to sleep outside like vagrants?

    They even returned to the Snake God's temple to speak to his green-scaled adepts, to no avail. The clergy was touched by the Snake, but otherwise barbaric and ill-educated. And even Drow were not so foolish as to trouble an incarnate God for a mere blessing of Tongues.

    It was as they dared to approach the slightly less inferior buildings which likely belonged to more dangerous beast-kin leaders that they found their way forwards.

    Most fulfilled functions the two Drow could not quite puzzle out, but one was familiar. There were no eight-limbed statues or devotional markings in the sand, but the large circular building was clearly there for bloodsports. A rather unusual pursuit for most assassins, of course... Yet Tuin and Morwyn were skilled and deadly, and could certainly triumph over the clumsy, hairless apes that inhabited this land. A little more notoriety wouldn't hurt either, and their disguise skills were certainly sufficient to obscure their true identities as needed.
    Making them respect their betters was merely a side-benefit, of course. The wealth and contacts were the real reason. They'd have to see how easy it was to enter tomorrow, but that kind of investigation was why Tuin had learned mindreading spells despite their unreliability against any serious targets. And kidnapping whoever was strong enough to rule over the proceedings was an impressive way to get on the scene, as long as she didn't force them to kill her.

    OOC: My headcanon is that SD has public lighting in the form of Continual Flame. And that Drow, even Drow who rebelled against Lolth's clergy, still feel incredibly superior to outsiders / consider humans and other inferior races as natural slaves. I'm not saying that they won't be able to serve us, just that they may be... abrasive to any mortal colleagues. Or "beast-kin", as they're called by a Drow who isn't trying to be polite to a Dragon.
    Did the Drow manage to sneak around the city without being caught? They think so (and they have great stealth) but of course Garin could have been tailing them the whole while without them knowing.
     
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  • Threadmarks
    • TalonofAnathrax said:
    Omake: A night out on the town

    Nighttime wasn't supposed to be blinding. They'd waited for hours before leaving the mist-filled temple to avoid the sun, and now this? It wasn't enough to forget to build proper secondary tunnels, but they had to fill the streets with spell-light too?

    If not for the familiar necessities of stealth, Morwyn would have been swearing as he slipped on his sundark goggles.

    They protected him from light-blindness, but they diminished his superior eyesight. Why, he was barely any better than the ape-kin all around him!

    Tuin chuckled.

    "Shall we walk among the beast-kin? Or will you hide here all night until you can bear the thought of living here?"
    The new lips of his Essarian form twisted his words somewhat, the True Tongue's melodies sounding positively foreign.
    He endured the indignity for convenience's sake, of course - but apparently, Morwyn would not.

    "Are you quite done mangling the tongue of your betters, you furred and stunted mockery of a proper sentient?"

    As he spoke, he flicked his fellow assassin off his shoulder. No true Drow would allow a pet to sit upon him! Letting this stand would reveal Tuin's true nature, and thus power. Doing this was an integral part of the disguise, and certainly not petty revenge.
    "Speak a language local priests and mages will understand, [scurrying-slave-thing]."

    "Yes, [Greater One]" replied the monkey in proper Abyssal.
    He spoke with proper servility, and followed slightly behind Morwyn as they stepped out onto the ridiculously lit streets. Not quite trying to hide in public, but easy to underestimate in the event of a challenge. Hidden magic behind Morwyn's hidden blades: the natural state of independent Drow walking streets where House agents or independent competitors could strike.
    Such were the ways of the Dark City.

    But of course, those were not the ways of the Dragon's den.

    Here countless hairless beast-kin walked without fear of their betters, entering their crude buildings as if they could own them. One even dared to sing in his horrid tongue! Shameless, the lot of them.

    Morwyn left the first man-thing to push them in the crowd mewling in the dirt, but alive.

    They were left alone after that, though a grey-cloaked man did move towards them before quailing under the dark elf's glare.

    And of course the pink-skinned beast-kin the Dragon had called "humans" utterly failed to speak Abyssal.

    Tuin could cast spells to handle the issue... In twelve hours. For now, they found themselves alone in a strange land without knowing its dangers or common tongue, without any of its coin or even proper respect from its inhabitants.

    Morwyn was making no effort to hide his nature, and the "humans" didn't even seem to know what it meant !

    They had successfully infiltrated the accursed ceremonies of Shaz'n'Gurath, the High Temple to the Spider of House Xorlabbin, and countless surface slave settlements living in fear of hunters from the deep. This shouldn't be so aggravating!

    Nevertheless, something about this place was deeply unpleasant. This was the greatest city of this Mending age ? Magic returned, and these uncouth beast-kin were the greatest race left alive? Their language was hideous, their craftsmanship crude, and their city one-dimensional. Oh, the slave races were happy here, but was that really worth accepting to live in such a hovel?

    Well, they didn't seem to have much of a choice. The Dragon had left them here among his hoard of mortals, and they no longer knew who to call upon for swift transportation. Their contacts and bargains had all fallen to dust, lost in time. Tuin had tried to call upon the ancient wardings of the City, but they no longer answered his call or even shone upon the horizon. And Morwyn had summoned his bound spy-fiend, only to be answered by ash reeking of Dragonfire and the destruction of the binding focus.

    They crisscrossed the Dragon's city, searching for something. They knew a multitude of signs and call-symbols from the Dark City and beyond, all indicating safe rest or proper contacts where hired blades and poison could find new associates.
    But this city hosted none that they could recognize, and by dawn the pair was getting a little worried. Would they have to learn an inferior language? Would they have to sleep outside like vagrants?

    They even returned to the Snake God's temple to speak to his green-scaled adepts, to no avail. The clergy was touched by the Snake, but otherwise barbaric and ill-educated. And even Drow were not so foolish as to trouble an incarnate God for a mere blessing of Tongues.

    It was as they dared to approach the slightly less inferior buildings which likely belonged to more dangerous beast-kin leaders that they found their way forwards.

    Most fulfilled functions the two Drow could not quite puzzle out, but one was familiar. There were no eight-limbed statues or devotional markings in the sand, but the large circular building was clearly there for bloodsports. A rather unusual pursuit for most assassins, of course... Yet Tuin and Morwyn were skilled and deadly, and could certainly triumph over the clumsy, hairless apes that inhabited this land. A little more notoriety wouldn't hurt either, and their disguise skills were certainly sufficient to obscure their true identities as needed.
    Making them respect their betters was merely a side-benefit, of course. The wealth and contacts were the real reason. They'd have to see how easy it was to enter tomorrow, but that kind of investigation was why Tuin had learned mindreading spells despite their unreliability against any serious targets. And kidnapping whoever was strong enough to rule over the proceedings was an impressive way to get on the scene, as long as she didn't force them to kill her.

    And as for lesser expenses like immediate housing, or food that hadn't spent millennia in a transfigured haversack?
    Well, there was always theft. Beastkin with poor senses should know better than to stockpile money, really. And what kind of Dragon would object to seizing assets from mere Wingless?


    OOC: My headcanon is that SD has public lighting in the form of Continual Flame. And that Drow, even Drow who rebelled against Lolth's clergy, still feel incredibly superior to outsiders / consider humans and other inferior races as natural slaves. I'm not saying that they won't be able to serve us, just that they may be... abrasive to any mortal colleagues. Or "beast-kin", as they're called by a Drow who isn't trying to be polite to a Dragon.
    Did the Drow manage to sneak around the city without being caught? They think so (and they have great stealth) but of course Garin could have been tailing them the whole while without them knowing.
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    Those poor Strangers in a Strange Land... :lol:rofl::lol

    And it's not just your head canon; DP confirmed long ago that the streets of SD are well lit at night by Continual Flames.
     
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