Remove ads

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

Reader mode
Duesal said:
Danelle says hello.
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...

Danelle is not a member of the organisation, nor continually present in Oldtown unless I am enormously mistaken. Please stop expecting these people to have the level of understanding of what can be done with spells in a world of returning magic that Viserys does - a great deal of that courtesy of outright use of metaknowledge by the threadmind.
 
Snowfire said:
Danelle is not a member of the organisation, nor continually present in Oldtown unless I am enormously mistaken. Please stop expecting these people to have the level of understanding of what can be done with spells in a world of returning magic that Viserys does - a great deal of that courtesy of outright use of metaknowledge by the threadmind.
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...
Alright, back up. No, I don't expect them to have that much knowledge of magic, but I'm still going to mourn the destruction of those corpses. You're taking this way too seriously.
 
[X] Try to discover the strength of the various factions, with special attention dedicated to the Citadel.
-[X] What can Baelor tell us of the current attitude of the Citadel's guiding Maesters, their apparent goals, and interactions with the Lantern Bearers, the Faith of the Seven, and the kingdom at large.
-[X] Also ask:
--[X] He says he got his Mind Blank from the Maesters. Which Maesters are the notable ones? Which have become skilled in arcane arts?
---[X] Can he specify if the Maesters just had a stockpile of the Mind Blank items or if they know how to make them?
--[X] Does Baelor happen to know of any rumors circulating the Reach he'd be willing to pass on? Places of power? Monsters popping up? Unearthed treasure?
---[X] Ask the same for Westeros as a whole. What rumors is he willing to share?
 
Last edited:
[X] Try to discover the strength of the various factions, with special attention dedicated to the Citadel.
-[X] What can Baelor tell us of the current attitude of the Citadel's guiding Maesters, their apparent goals, and interactions with the Lantern Bearers, the Faith of the Seven, and the kingdom at large.

I am not going to name vote rainbow text out of spite.
 
@Goldfish, I am sorry to make you do more coloring, but:

[X] Goldfish

-[] He says he got his Mind Blank from the Maesters. Which Maesters are the notable ones? Which have become skilled in arcane arts?
--[] Can he specify if the Maesters just had a stockpile of the Mind Blank items or if they know how to make them?
-[] Does Baelor happen to know of any rumors circulating the Reach he'd be willing to pass on? Places of power? Monsters popping up? Unearthed treasure?
--[] Ask the same for Westeros as a whole. What rumors is he willing to share?
 
Duesal said:
@Goldfish, I am sorry to make you do more coloring, but:

[X] Goldfish

-[] He says he got his Mind Blank from the Maesters. Which Maesters are the notable ones? Which have become skilled in arcane arts?
--[] Can he specify if the Maesters just had a stockpile of the Mind Blank items or if they know how to make them?
-[] Does Baelor happen to know of any rumors circulating the Reach he'd be willing to pass on? Places of power? Monsters popping up? Unearthed treasure?
--[] Ask the same for Westeros as a whole. What rumors is he willing to share?
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...
Done.
 
Remove ads
Horde Thief Chapter L
  • Threadmarks
    • << Previous
    Horde Thief
    Chapter 50​

    "Oh god," I whispered. "Passover."

    The word meant nothing to Viserys, I could tell by the look of confusion, but I did know. My skin tone had to resemble a bedsheet more than anything human right now, and I felt the pieces slide inexorably into place, forming that dreadful picture that I couldn't dislodge. It all fit, too, and the breadth of Nicodemus's awful genius was terrifying to behold. Knowing what I did about him…he was probably the reason that the Council's specialists in tracking magic had gone missing. Somehow, I didn't think they'd be turning up again. Ever. That stung, but it was pinpricks beneath the looming apocalypse that Viserys had discovered.

    "That clearly means something that it doesn't to me, Ser." Viserys' steady words cut through my thoughts. "What is it?"

    I swallowed, taking a calming breath. This was not going to be pretty. "It's a legend from the Bible," I paused. "You know what the Bible is, right?" Viserys nodded impatiently, and I continued. "When the ancient Egyptians refused to let the people of God go free, Exodus says that there were plagues sent to persuade them. The last and most deadly is remembered in a festival that starts this Friday."

    "What was the plague?" Viserys asked, his tone unchanged.

    "Every firstborn child was struck down in a single night. Exactly who was responsible is disputed. Some say it was the Angel of Death, others that it was literally God himself." I was pretty sure I actually knew the being who'd done it, but I wasn't going to say that. "It was a long time ago, and I suspect that we've forgotten the real circumstances. But with that date," I shook my head. "I'd lay dollars to donuts that every child affected by this is a firstborn. Maggie is." A sudden, awful thought struck me. "Visery, what about Naomi?"

    "She had an older sister," he replied, and this time there was definite disgust in his voice. "So this is an act of your world's god?"

    "No," I shook my head, hard. "This is using that moment as a convergence of power." Bob had told me so many times that places were more than just coordinates in space. "But it's the enemies of the White God doing it. I've fought them before, and I know how they're doing it." The Grail. I'd wondered what Nic had planned for it, but now that I knew I almost wished I didn't. This was horrific.

    "The cup at the centre of your vision, between the coins, its an artefact of the White God's power. It caught the blood of his son when he died, so it's said. But that was a willing death," my mind was racing, flying down logic chains as I boostrapped the idea from a scattered set of first principles. "If this was unwilling blood, taken, not given and done in the right way…I can see how they'd do this."

    "Then how do we stop it?" I winced at the question.

    "Most likely?" I asked rhetorically. "We go and break the ritual. And fight our way through however many Denarians that are there. Are you sure you can't remember how many coins there were?" That mattered a lot, but Viserys only shrugged.

    "Sorry. Definitely twenty, probably more, but I can't say for certain." My reaction to that was almost a full flinch.

    "Damnit, the Church should know better by now," I muttered, but I could curse them properly for their carelessness later. "Alright then. Those coins are the prisons for thirty of the Fallen, Angels who fought against God in a rebellion…a long time ago. They and their bearers are collectively known as the Knights of the Blackened Denarius. If you were to go back through the last two thousand years of human history, a goodly portion of everything in there bad could be attribute to them. Their leader is a man called Nicodemus Archleone, and a year ago, he was able to escape from the Underworld with the Holy Grail. If that's in play, then he's there, and this has to be something huge to bring so many of the Denarians together. They don't usually play well in large groups."

    "I see," I could see the plans already forming in Viserys' mind, but there was more still to be said, and this was a conflict I didn't want him barrelling into without proper preparation.

    "The Fallen are restricted from acting freely, but through their hosts they're capable of some things that would be impressive if they weren't so damn dangerous. Nicodemus and a solid core of the Denarians are all over a millennia old, and have had all that time to hone their skills. And the coins give them physical power far beyond that of humans. They're smart, extremely dedicated, utterly ruthless," I saw a dagger slice into the body of thin girl, "and probably one of the most dangerous supernatural groups out there. Even if it's only the thirty of them. The Church opposes them, and usually does quite well, but there have been…setbacks recently."

    "What sort of setbacks?" Viserys' voice was still unnaturally calm, and I tried not to think about what it had to mean was going on beneath the surface. Or maybe it was just his way, I'd seen examples of it often enough. Still, he had questions that needed answering if we were to go anywhere with this. Once that was done, I could notify the Council. We'd need time to prepare for an assault on this scale, anyway.

    We went through the Denarians, what I knew of them, what I knew of the Grail, and what I believed both together with the location they'd clearly chosen in time and space could do to the world. The angel of death and shadow that Viserys had seen had to be allegory, but equally…it could have represented Anduriel. The biggest problem, however, was that of us facing the Denarians as they would be now. They were always dangerous opponents, but they fed on grief and pain. With millions of children starting to fall visibly ill across the world, there'd be a whole lot of that out there.

    I explained how there were those that fought the Denarians, the Knights of the Cross who wielded holy swords in battle to save them. How I'd fought beside them more than once, including the day Nic had stolen the Grail from Hades' vault. I didn't hold back why I'd been there, barring my conversation with Hades and certain specifics. Viserys needed to know.

    After we were done, I called the Council. They weren't willing to trust my source entirely, and to be fair to them, I could understand that. Or at least, I could have, if I'd been willing to be fair. With my own daughter in the crosshairs, that feeling was decidedly limited. Still, it would be easy enough to confirm. Once that was done, they'd start preparing. That would take time, though, time I'd need as well. But also time that could be spent on more than just preparation. I headed back from where I'd made the call to the living room, scribbling something on a postit note, and Viserys looked up calmly from his seat.

    "You said there were those who would fight against these scum," he said conversationally, like we were discussing the contents of the morning paper. "Where might we find them?"

    "For once," I forced a small smile, "I'm way ahead of you." I had more than a few allies I could trust in this, but something that had been said in the long conversation – the sky was starting to darken now – had caught in my mind. "But first, you mentioned that it might be possible to…protect Maggie from this?" We'd discussed the ritual in depth, and he'd let slip that there might be a way, but it came with its own difficulties.

    "Yes," he nodded. "According to what you've said, any form of stasis or protection that just sets her to one side most likely won't work. We need to break the connection to her life force, and the only real way to do that is to stop her having one." I tensed, then forced myself to relax. He wouldn't ask me to do that. "As the simplest options to do that are unpalatable, I am left with only one other." He told me.

    "You want me to let you turn my daughter to stone?" I asked quietly, the stress of the day mixing with my anger at the situation to crackle in my words. Viserys shrugged helplessly.

    "It's the only way I can think of that would really stop this. You can't drain her life away if she doesn't have one. And I can set up a spell so that if you or Lady Murphy hugs her, she'll revert back to normal. I can't do that for many people, Ser Harry, but I can do it for you. At the very least, it'll save her the pain that will be coming soon."

    "I," I shook my head, blinking back tears. "I'd need to talk to her, and to Karrin." Most likely to try and convince her to stay out of this. Murph was a great shot, but in this sort of battle she would be utterly out of her league. "But thank you, Viserys." I meant it. He was about to reply when the phone rang. That had taken her a while. I walked back to the phone and picked up.

    "Dresden," I said.

    "We got your message," the clipped tones were unmistakable. Kincaid. An assassin of considerable skill, far older than he appeared, and who I'd contracted my own murder out to. It was odd to speak to him again, with that taken into account. "And heaven help me, but Ivy wants in. We can be there in eight hours."

    "No need," I told him, looking back at where Viserys was talking quickly into his own phone, words like 'security' and 'no object' on his lips. "Tell me where you are. We'll come and get you."
     
    Last edited:
  • Threadmarks
    • I'm aware I'm skipping over major sections in this, but I'll fill the necessary pieces in during the planning stages. Honestly though, I've probably given you enough infodump for now, and it's not as if this lacks that. Still, plans are moving into place. The Council is aware, though checking with its own sources. Viserys is reaching out with his own contacts, and that's going to end…interestingly. And, well, the end of the chapter.

    Introducing Ivy was something I'd wanted to do in this story since almost the beginning. Thanks to the combined efforts of myself and @Sqweaktoy in producing this scenario for the finale – he actually came up with the initial idea – I now can. I'm sure she's going to be completely forgiving about Harry having used Kincaid to kill himself. Then again, we were obviously overdue for some more 'being Harry is suffering' :V

    Oh, and if you're curious, no. I didn't bend my rule for updates. I'm legitimately a little shocked.
     
    Snowfire said:
    "No need," I told him, looking back at where Viserys was talking quickly into his own phone, words like 'security' and 'no object' on his lips. "Tell me where you are. We'll come and get you."
    Click to expand...
    Click to shrink...

    "Viserys, you can't just hire a tank battalion to guard your... ward."

    "John. I like you. We're good friends. Far better than I imagined being. But if you try to tell me that I can't buy something again, I have a bridge to sell you."

    "Viserys--"

    "John. What are the words?"

    "Sigh. Your being a Dragon, my argument is thus rendered invalid?"

    "You are nearly there, John."

    "...I'll make some calls."

    "This is why we are friends, John."
     
    Sqweaktoy said:
    Jumpin' Jehoshaphat Snowfire, you're cranking them out today. :lol:rofl:
    Click to expand...
    Click to shrink...

    We both know where we're heading with this. I just want to get to the good stuff!

    Crake said:
    "Viserys, you can't just hire a tank battalion to guard your... ward."

    "John. I like you. We're good friends. Far better than I imagined being. But if you try to tell me that I can't buy something again, I have a bridge to sell you."

    "Viserys--"

    "John. What are the words?"

    "Sigh. Your being a Dragon, my argument is thus rendered invalid?"

    "You are nearly there, John."

    "...I'll make some calls."

    "This is why we are friends, John."
    Click to expand...
    Click to shrink...

    This is funny, yes, but not as satisfying as more Richard in RWBY :V
     
    Snowfire said:
    << Previous
    Horde Thief
    Chapter 50​

    "Oh god," I whispered. "Passover."

    The word meant nothing to Viserys, I could tell by the look of confusion, but I did know. My skin tone had to resemble a bedsheet more than anything human right now, and I felt the pieces slide inexorably into place, forming that dreadful picture that I couldn't dislodge. It all fit, too, and the breadth of Nicodemus's awful genius was terrifying to behold. Knowing what I did about him…he was probably the reason that the Council's specialists in tracking magic had gone missing. Somehow, I didn't think they'd be turning up again. Ever. That stung, but it was pinpricks beneath the looming apocalypse that Viserys had discovered.

    "That clearly means something that it doesn't to me, Ser." Viserys' steady words cut through my thoughts. "What is it?"

    I swallowed, taking a calming breath. This was not going to be pretty. "It's a legend from the Bible," I paused. "You know what the Bible is, right?" Viserys nodded impatiently, and I continued. "When the ancient Egyptians refused to let the people of God go free, Exodus says that there were plagues sent to persuade them. The last and most deadly is remembered in a festival that starts this Friday."

    "What was the plague?" Viserys asked, his tone unchanged.

    "Every firstborn child was struck down in a single night. Exactly who was responsible is disputed. Some say it was the Angel of Death, others that it was literally God himself." I was pretty sure I actually knew the being who'd done it, but I wasn't going to say that. "It was a long time ago, and I suspect that we've forgotten the real circumstances. But with that date," I shook my head. "I'd lay dollars to donuts that every child affected by this is a firstborn. Maggie is." A sudden, awful thought struck me. "Visery, what about Naomi?"

    "She had an older sister," he replied, and this time there was definite disgust in his voice. "So this is an act of your world's god?"

    "No," I shook my head, hard. "This is using that moment as a convergence of power." Bob had told me so many times that places were more than just coordinates in space. "But it's the enemies of the White God doing it. I've fought them before, and I know how they're doing it." The Grail. I'd wondered what Nic had planned for it, but now that I knew I almost wished I didn't. This was horrific.

    "The cup at the centre of your vision, between the coins, its an artefact of the White God's power. It caught the blood of his son when he died, so it's said. But that was a willing death," my mind was racing, flying down logic chains as I boostrapped the idea from a scattered set of first principles. "If this was unwilling blood, taken, not given and done in the right way…I can see how they'd do this."

    "Then how do we stop it?" I winced at the question.

    "Most likely?" I asked rhetorically. "We go and break the ritual. And fight our way through however many Denarians that are there. Are you sure you can't remember how many coins there were?" That mattered a lot, but Viserys only shrugged.

    "Sorry. Definitely twenty, probably more, but I can't say for certain." My reaction to that was almost a full flinch.

    "Damnit, the Church should know better by now," I muttered, but I could curse them properly for their carelessness later. "Alright then. Those coins are the prisons for thirty of the Fallen, Angels who fought against God in a rebellion…a long time ago. They and their bearers are collectively known as the Knights of the Blackened Denarius. If you were to go back through the last two thousand years of human history, a goodly portion of everything in there bad could be attribute to them. Their leader is a man called Nicodemus Archleone, and a year ago, he was able to escape from the Underworld with the Holy Grail. If that's in play, then he's there, and this has to be something huge to bring so many of the Denarians together. They don't usually play well in large groups."

    "I see," I could see the plans already forming in Viserys' mind, but there was more still to be said, and this was a conflict I didn't want him barrelling into without proper preparation.

    "The Fallen are restricted from acting freely, but through their hosts they're capable of some things that would be impressive if they weren't so damn dangerous. Nicodemus and a solid core of the Denarians are all over a millennia old, and have had all that time to hone their skills. And the coins give them physical power far beyond that of humans. They're smart, extremely dedicated, utterly ruthless," I saw a dagger slice into the body of thin girl, "and probably one of the most dangerous supernatural groups out there. Even if it's only the thirty of them. The Church opposes them, and usually does quite well, but there have been…setbacks recently."

    "What sort of setbacks?" Viserys' voice was still unnaturally calm, and I tried not to think about what it had to mean was going on beneath the surface. Or maybe it was just his way, I'd seen examples of it often enough. Still, he had questions that needed answering if we were to go anywhere with this. Once that was done, I could notify the Council. We'd need time to prepare for an assault on this scale, anyway.

    We went through the Denarians, what I knew of them, what I knew of the Grail, and what I believed both together with the location they'd clearly chosen in time and space could do to the world. The angel of death and shadow that Viserys had seen had to be allegory, but equally…it could have represented Anduriel. The biggest problem, however, was that of us facing the Denarians as they would be now. They were always dangerous opponents, but they fed on grief and pain. With millions of children starting to fall visibly ill across the world, there'd be a whole lot of that out there.

    I explained how there were those that fought the Denarians, the Knights of the Cross who wielded holy swords in battle to save them. How I'd fought beside them more than once, including the day Nic had stolen the Grail from Hades' vault. I didn't hold back why I'd been there, barring my conversation with Hades and certain specifics. Viserys needed to know.

    After we were done, I called the Council. They weren't willing to trust my source entirely, and to be fair to them, I could understand that. Or at least, I could have, if I'd been willing to be fair. With my own daughter in the crosshairs, that feeling was decidedly limited. Still, it would be easy enough to confirm. Once that was done, they'd start preparing. That would take time, though, time I'd need as well. But also time that could be spent on more than just preparation. I headed back from where I'd made the call to the living room, scribbling something on a postit note, and Viserys looked up calmly from his seat.

    "You said there were those who would fight against these scum," he said conversationally, like we were discussing the contents of the morning paper. "Where might we find them?"

    "For once," I forced a small smile, "I'm way ahead of you." I had more than a few allies I could trust in this, but something that had been said in the long conversation – the sky was starting to darken now – had caught in my mind. "But first, you mentioned that it might be possible to…protect Maggie from this?" We'd discussed the ritual in depth, and he'd let slip that there might be a way, but it came with its own difficulties.

    "Yes," he nodded. "According to what you've said, any form of stasis or protection that just sets her to one side most likely won't work. We need to break the connection to her life force, and the only real way to do that is to stop her having one." I tensed, then forced myself to relax. He wouldn't ask me to do that. "As the simplest options to do that are unpalatable, I am left with only one other." He told me.

    "You want me to let you turn my daughter to stone?" I asked quietly, the stress of the day mixing with my anger at the situation to crackle in my words. Viserys shrugged helplessly.

    "It's the only way I can think of that would really stop this. You can't drain her life away if she doesn't have one. And I can set up a spell so that if you or Lady Murphy hugs her, she'll revert back to normal. I can't do that for many people, Ser Harry, but I can do it for you. At the very least, it'll save her the pain that will be coming soon."

    "I," I shook my head, blinking back tears. "I'd need to talk to her, and to Karrin." Most likely to try and convince her to stay out of this. Murph was a great shot, but in this sort of battle she would be utterly out of her league. "But thank you, Viserys." I meant it. He was about to reply when the phone rang. That had taken her a while. I walked back to the phone and picked up.

    "Dresden," I said.

    "We got your message," the clipped tones were unmistakable. Kincaid. An assassin of considerable skill, far older than he appeared, and who I'd contracted my own murder out to. It was odd to speak to him again, with that taken into account. "And heaven help me, but Ivy wants in. We can be there in eight hours."

    "No need," I told him, looking back at where Viserys was talking quickly into his own phone, words like 'security' and 'no object' on his lips. "Tell me where you are. We'll come and get you."
    Click to expand...
    Click to shrink...
    Isn't Ivy a first born child, too?
     
    Butter's spideysense will be drawing him to Dresden's apartment. And Sanya will show up loaded for bear at some point.
     
    Reader mode
    You must login or register to reply here.
    Remove ads
    Back
    Top