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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:
In the Scales of Honor ​

Eighth Day of the Tenth Month 293 AC

Talk of ancient gods and the powers they may bequeath is unlikely the receive a warm welcome today given how troubled the Lord of Storm's End appears. No amount of gifts can change that, so you take instead a far more natural tack of conversation. "Which Houses are likely to follow you in raising your banners, and which would hold with your elder brother?" That you do not call him 'Usurper' is out of respect for Stannis' feelings on the matter, though you suspect he would agree with the term.

"Less than might be hoped, even when counting those more inclined to bow to dragons over stags." The words sound as though they lay strangely upon his tongue, but he presses on regardless. "Many of the lords who were close with Renly turned cold and suspicious as the false lord made it clear that he would leave Storm's End. Without the truth being told, all they had to show for it was some nonsense about me poisoning 'Renly' against them. If only they knew how much their friendship was worth. But then I suppose they could not tell the difference between one smile at feast time and another."

You wince inwardly at the realization of how much the 'brothers' Baratheon had hurt each other over the months of living side by side under the under the weight of secrecy. Dany looks like she might say something, whether chastisement, comfort, or both together you do not know, for she closes her mouth with a shake of her head.

Thus Stannis continues with his account: "Chief among these are Lord Bryce Caron of Nightssong and Lord Guyard Morrigen, though doubtless there are scores of lesser knights who think the same."

"It is all too easy to count wicked the lord who does not pour silver in one's pocket and wine in one's belly," Maester Cressen agrees sadly. A moment later he adds: "Though if you will forget an old man's nagging, my lord, perhaps now is the time to clear the air with Lord Casper Wylde. He is less troubled by the dearth of feasts and more suspicious of any hint of magic after his daughter's death." Turning to you he explains. "She was killed by a witch's curse, a hard death from what I heard, and the woman's death did little to sooth his sorrow."

"And what then should I tell him?" Stannis grinds out, clearly an old argument brought to light. "That there was no sorcery involved in my taking up lordship Storm's End when the one who abdicated in my favor was not even Renly but merely the being he sold his face and birthright to? How much 'proof' do you imagine I could show Lord Wylde, before the truth begins to show through?"

The old Maester shakes his head, not convinced, but unwilling to take the conversation any further.

"Which lords do you most trust then, my lord?" your mother asks, breaking the awkward silence that follows.

"Gulian Swann, Lord of Stonehelm," comes the swift reply. "After it was proven that Devils tried to blacken my name, he rode in person to Storm's End to express his regrets." From the tone it is clear Stannis does not bear a grudge there. "Then I would name Lord Hugh Grandison and Lord Alesander Staedmon of Broad Arch. Both are men who appreciate a steady hand in judgement at least, though given how eager Staedmon was to get any mages he found off his land he might still make trouble at the prospect of new laws regarding sorcery."

"Ralph Buckler, Lord of Bronzegate, is likely to go the way of Walder Frey should he see a dragon or two above his battlements," Cressen continues. "He is a cautious man."

"Craven you mean?" the Lord of Storm's End asks with disgust above what he would reserve for his enemies you suspect. In that much at least, he is like his elder brother, not that you intend to point it out.

Cressen clears his throat. "Of the remaining former loyalists the most notable are House Cafferen, which I am sorry to say holds little love for your House, Your Grace, after the fate of their former lords..." Having his head packed in salt and sent to your father by Randyll Tarly, he refrains from expanding upon it, likely due to your mother's presence. "Lord Fell will likely refuse to..."

"I've already secured his allegiance," you interject. In truth Ser Richard had secured his uncle's pledge, not that he had set out to do that from the start.

Though Stannis' jaw twitches in annoyance he does not speak up. What is he to say after all? He had made the same choice as Lord Fell in the end. "I assume the same is true of House Connington, then?"

In response you simply nod, the Tourney had given you the chance to gain Red Ronnet's pledge.

All told that leaves House Trant, House Dondarrion, House Peasebury, House Penrose, and House Whitehead likely to declare for the Usurper out of lingering loyalty to him with House Estermont uncertain as to how the bonds of blood and loyalty should fall. While Ser Davos had been instrumental in ending a diabolic cult in Greenstone, it had not threatened the Lord's family directly. Lastly, there is Lady Shyra Errol of whom little is known for she is just come into her inheritance. Given that she is much courted, one can anticipate that her choice of husband will be telling as to her intentions.

"For whom would Lord Selwyn Tarth call his banners?" Dany asks, you suspect remembering another heiress not yet come into her own. What had the Chosen of the Warrior been doing all this time? Would the girl even be interested in her inheritance?

"He has shown himself to be a pious man, though not overly harsh on mages in his lands, and one of the least troubled by the change in lordship," Maester Cressen explains. "Whether that will hold true under present circumstances is... more than I can say."

"What of others who might already have raised the dragon banner, hedge knight and smallfolk?" you ask as delicately as you can, knowing that Stannis is all too likely to call such men bandits no matter which side he finds himself on.

"There are some reports of that sort from around Griffin's Roost and the Weeping Town both." For a long moment Stannis stares through you as he too struggles to choose his words. "They do little good to anyone and much harm by preying upon the smallfolk and claiming they do it in your name. It would be best if they were stopped."

What do you do next?

[] Write in

OOC: This was a lot of rolling and I just did not feel up to doing even more of it for supernatural happenings tonight. Also sorry if this feels too much like one big list, but there is just so many houses that I could not give as much attention as I would have liked to each one.
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Made some edits, DP.
 
This is just a straight up continuation of @Crake's vote.

@Duesal, we can move on to a Calligraphy Wyrm and Phoenix tutor afterward.

[X] Plan Stormlands Dossier, Continued
-[X] How lightly have the Lannisters and the Golden Shields tread in the Stormlands since the days began where they started having to watch their backs in the Riverlands and the Crownlands due to a glut of loyalists? Any chance of entanglements there?
-[X] Rumors of supernatural activity?
 
The rebel sentiment of those hedge knights and bandits can be utilized by simply suborning them to Stannis indirectly.

We should meet with Lords undecided with proxies and maybe Selwyn Tarth personally.

We might be able to turn potential foes into allies, I'll need time to think of angles.
 
Crake said:
The rebel sentiment of those hedge knights and bandits can be utilized by simply suborning them to Stannis indirectly.

We should meet with Lords undecided with proxies and maybe Selwyn Tarth personally.

We might be able to turn potential foes into allies, I'll need time to think of angles.
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That's assuming they arent just plain bandits or opportunistic "knights" looking to do some pillaging and rapine using our name as a deterrent/protection/justification. 9 times out of 10 I'd say it's the less charitable option for each of them doing this. And that's me being supremenly generous.
 
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Hey @Goldfish, let's organise those people ourselves!
And if they're just thieves and cannot be made useful, we help Stannis arrest them all.

[X] Goldfish
 
Crake said:
The rebel sentiment of those hedge knights and bandits can be utilized by simply suborning them to Stannis indirectly.

We should meet with Lords undecided with proxies and maybe Selwyn Tarth personally.

We might be able to turn potential foes into allies, I'll need time to think of angles.
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Diplomatic core. Hoo rah.

We could send a herald to deal with the bandits?

Though I feel addressing Stannis concerns immediately would be for the best @Goldfish.

[Z] Asking me what I am planning on doing about the bandits ravaging the countryside in my name is not the worst thing someone sworn to me has asked me. Far, far from it.
-[z] Bronze Yon asked me not to kill any more children when conquering westeros.
-[z] it's...
-[z] It's Damaged. The chain of fidelity binding small folk to lord, lord to King, and King to smallfolk is damaged.
-[z]Where there should be trust and compassion for others I have found mutual disdain and callousness.
-[z] There's so much rot and misery and wickedness it makes me ill.
-[z] Steel yourself, and stoke your fury. The world has a lot to awnsers for.
 
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zxzx24 said:
Diplomatic core. Hoo rah.

We could send a herald to deal with the bandits?

Though I feel addressing Stannis concerns immediately would be for the best @Goldfish.

[Z] Asking me what I am planning on doing about the bandits ravaging the countryside in my name is not the worst thing someone sworn to me has asked me. Far, far from it.
-[z] Bronze Yon asked me not to kill any more children when conquering westeros.
-[z] it's...
-[z] It's Damaged. The chain of fidelity binding small folk to lord, lord to King, and King to smallfolk is damaged.
-[z]Where there should be trust and compassion for others I have found mutual disdain and callousness.
-[z] There's so much rot and misery and wickedness it makes me ill.
-[z] Steel yourself, and stoke your fury. The world has a lot to awnsers for.
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Oh we definitely need to offer some advice, and if Stannis needs it, the assistance of our resources, but first we should finish learning what he has to tell us about the situation in the Stormlands. Is there a Golden Shields presence, are there any supernatural hot spots, etc?
 
Alright, here go updates...
Relevant Maps:

Blue - The Imperium
Turquoise - Unofficial Vassals
Green - Allies
Yellow - Intrigue / Diplomacy Targets
Red - Invasion Targets

Blue Brazier - Regular Whispering Brazier for governmental use
Red Brazier - Interplanar Whsipering Brazier for governmental use
ACSEC Shield - ACSESC office
Mirror - Mirrorvision

Changelog:
Balcanization Project:
1. Took way more effort it was worth to stitch together.
2. Stitching partially successful, don't look at edges of the map too hard or you'll peer into the Far Realm and die.
3. For further commentary refer to people who actually know what any of this stuff means, I'm just badly SaI'ing the maps together.

Diplomacy Map:
1. Added Brazier Icon to Storm's End.
2. Removed Mirrorvision Icon from Snek Port [:'(]
3. Stannis colored as "Unofficial Vassal"
3.1... I think. Monitor is bad on colors, and my eyes even worse.

General Changes:
1. Quality is fucked, but who cares?
2. Stuff is most defenitly forgotten about. @Crake, @Goldfish, would apprecaite a heads-up on whom I should color what in next Diplo edit soon-ish.
 
egoo said:
Alright, here go updates...
Relevant Maps:

Blue - The Imperium
Turquoise - Unofficial Vassals
Green - Allies
Yellow - Intrigue / Diplomacy Targets
Red - Invasion Targets

Blue Brazier - Regular Whispering Brazier for governmental use
Red Brazier - Interplanar Whsipering Brazier for governmental use
ACSEC Shield - ACSESC office
Mirror - Mirrorvision

Changelog:
Balcanization Project:
1. Took way more effort it was worth to stitch together.
2. Stitching partially successful, don't look at edges of the map too hard or you'll peer into the Far Realm and die.
3. For further commentary refer to people who actually know what any of this stuff means, I'm just badly SaI'ing the maps together.

Diplomacy Map:
1. Added Brazier Icon to Storm's End.
2. Removed Mirrorvision Icon from Snek Port [:'(]
3. Stannis colored as "Unofficial Vassal"
3.1... I think. Monitor is bad on colors, and my eyes even worse.

General Changes:
1. Quality is fucked, but who cares?
2. Stuff is most defenitly forgotten about. @Crake, @Goldfish, would apprecaite a heads-up on whom I should color what in next Diplo edit soon-ish.
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Joking aside, great job, dude. Very much appreciate the effort.

As for remembering forgotten stuff, I'm the wrong guy to talk to. My memory is less than reliable on this subject.

Also, Balkanization is spelled with a K rather than a C. I'm not just forgetful, I'm also pedantic. :oops:
 
egoo said:
Alright, here go updates...
Relevant Maps:

Blue - The Imperium
Turquoise - Unofficial Vassals
Green - Allies
Yellow - Intrigue / Diplomacy Targets
Red - Invasion Targets

Blue Brazier - Regular Whispering Brazier for governmental use
Red Brazier - Interplanar Whsipering Brazier for governmental use
ACSEC Shield - ACSESC office
Mirror - Mirrorvision

Changelog:
Balcanization Project:
1. Took way more effort it was worth to stitch together.
2. Stitching partially successful, don't look at edges of the map too hard or you'll peer into the Far Realm and die.
3. For further commentary refer to people who actually know what any of this stuff means, I'm just badly SaI'ing the maps together.

Diplomacy Map:
1. Added Brazier Icon to Storm's End.
2. Removed Mirrorvision Icon from Snek Port [:'(]
3. Stannis colored as "Unofficial Vassal"
3.1... I think. Monitor is bad on colors, and my eyes even worse.

General Changes:
1. Quality is fucked, but who cares?
2. Stuff is most defenitly forgotten about. @Crake, @Goldfish, would apprecaite a heads-up on whom I should color what in next Diplo edit soon-ish.
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@egoo, all of Yi Ti needs to be colored yellow for an Intrigue/Diplomacy target. I believe Norvos should be colored red for an invasion target, unless they beat us to the chase and try to surrender. Same with Lorath.
 
[X] Plan Stormlands Dossier, Continued
-[X] How lightly have the Lannisters and the Golden Shields tread in the Stormlands since the days began where they started having to watch their backs in the Riverlands and the Crownlands due to a glut of loyalists? Any chance of entanglements there?
-[X] Rumors of supernatural activity?

We more information, but we ought to help at least a little before we leave, both to tip the balance further to our favour and to prove the benefits of vassalage to us.
 
Goldfish said:
Very cool, dude.

@DragonParadox, Crake and I have been eager to see Dany using her Half-Celestial form's Hallow SLA utilized to set up warded sites all around SD and in other important locations. I think you might have said how many of those we could reasonably expect her to create per month, but if so, I can't remember the number.

@Crake, @Everyone, remember the Spontaneous Search stations we talked about a while ago? To be used for security check points, the port authority, etc? How many of those do you think we need? Each one would cost 720 IM, with another 250 IM for the item to be worn by the guard on duty which controls the station and grants a +5 Competence bonus on Search checks. At just 970 IM in total for each set, we could afford to start enchanting them this month.
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Ah, speaking about this again ('m waiting on a rare spawn in WoW overnight, I have nothing better to do :confused:)...

I think the following makes sense:
[] 3 Search Stations for Planar Trade Route in SD - 1 on each side (1 OV, 1 AK, 1 SD).
[] 5 at major official Inquisiton offices - 1 SD, 1 Tyrosh, 1 Myr, 1 Lys, 1 Braavos (Silver Eye), 1 Pentos.
[] 5 for Scholarums - 2 SD (Shadow Tower, outside and inside, just to be extra sure), 1 Tyrosh, 1 Naath, 1 Tolos.
[] 11 for major trade ports - 3 SD, 2 Braavos, 2 Tyrosh, 2 Myr, 2 Lys.
[] 5 for additional SD buildings/infrastructure (2 for library - common and restricted sections, 1 for Military Academy, 1 for University of... whatever we have there, 1 for Everfire Dale)
[] 8 stations for major Administration assets (1 for Sealord's Palace, 1 for wherever Alinor works, 1 for Lys, 1 for Tyrosh, 1 for Myr, 1 for Pentos, 1 for Tolos, 1 for Naath).

Total: 37 Spontaneous Search stations, with no particular order to priority, but all avaliable/needed at this particular moment (so, no Volantis, or Dornish teleportation circle)

All I got for now.
Sleeeeeep. Waaaant it. But too dedicaaaated to camping naow :C
 
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