A Sword Without a Hilt: A Song of Ice and Fire/D&D 3.5 Crossover
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- a song of ice and fire a sword without a hilt d&d 3.5 dungeons & dragons 100% high octane dragon fuel ave corvidae battle action dragon diplomacy best sister bureaucromancy delicious soul-stuff dragon dreams come true dragon ta'veren greatest uncle hubris is a coward's word in defiance of gods and men mammon's folly mutually assured mage's disjunction qm murderhobo top tier coatl
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That is mostly the case because she doesn't know much.
What if our deeds were laid bare to her in a message as Syrax did to Viserys?
I doubt she would see us in a good light then, and I don't think that's outside the Seven's power.
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She probably shouldn't be swearing a permanent oath of fealty until she has a more solid impression of us and our rule.
If that is her reasoning.
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I'm probably being jumpy but... I'd like to make something clear, this may be a vote that concerns morality and views how Brienne sees the world, but it's not a moral choice vote. One option above will not have Viserys acting any less kind than the other.
I say this because an overnight morality debate is really concerning to me.
I say this because an overnight morality debate is really concerning to me.
- Location
- United States
See, if she was making an informed decision and wanted to swear fealty anyway that'd be wonderful, but I don't want to deal with her saying "I will follow so long as you're a good king" and then later her learning more about the blood sacrifice and whatnot and deciding to rescind her oath.
After everything we've gone through in this quest I can't trust a conditional oath like this from an ill-informed character.
She believes she has a solid impression and trusts her father's judgement. I only qualified the above, because I did not want to to seem an absolute judgement given as the GM OOC.
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- Germany
No.
This update has laid to rest my concerns regarding the Warrior.
Now the issue is her.
If we had time and opportunity to bring her slowly closer to us and our work, the way we did Waymar, it could work, but as a matter of fact we are too far away from our starting point to do that anymore.
Now I would keep her at armslenght and be ready to send Garin if she knows too much.
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- florida
You know what. Naw.
Scared? I'm not. I know what decisions we made and why we did them. Bring it on.
Edit: @Duesal then inform her. Or try raising his son. Or leave.
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- Germany
I'm not seeing this as a moral question, if that helps any.
We already made our moral decisions, and now we have to guess how Brienne will react to them when she finds out more about us.
At least that's my impression of the situation.
- Location
- ?????????
The issue(for me) is that she isn't making a complete informed decision. It would be me making a promise to do something for a cousin, not realizing my cousin was into some illegal shit and asked me to do the same. Personally I would prefer for her to know what she is swearing to. Everyone else who has sworn to us knows exactly what we are about. She doesn't.
Goldfish
Friendly Spider-Fish Abomination
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- Formerly of the Far Realm
Made a few edits to the chapter, DP. Using my phone at work, though, so I might have missed something.The Weight of Oaths
Ninth Day of the Tenth Month 293 AC
After what you have heard in the village tavern, the request is not unexpected. You had considered raising the boy Galladon as Lord Selwyn once again, though the return of one dead for eight and ten years is a fragile thread to hang Tarth's loyalty by. He might be unwilling or unable to return leaving you with no other option but to belatedly agree to Brienne inheriting, leaving broken hopes and resentment in your wake. The second option would be to cut the knot of conflicting loyalties directly with an Unraveling, as Dany did to Tiamat, but that is not an offer to make lightly. Not one to make here in Sept, standing before a man who for all his worries is still a devout worshiper of the Seven Who Are One. "If Brienne is willing to swear her oath of fealty and obey the laws of the realm, I see no impediment to her being the heir of Tarth."
"Thank you, Your Grace. I will summon her at once," the lord says, gratitude almost palpable in his voice, but there is something else there, beneath the gratitude, beneath the relief, wariness, at first you think it is concern for what the Usurper might do, or even Stannis, for he has no way of knowing the lord of Storm's End has sworn himself to you, but then you realize it is none of these things, the truth hidden in the words he did not say. There is no assurance forthcoming that his daughter will put king before god, nor even that she wishes to be Lady of Evenfall Hall. You begin to suspect that Selwyn is attempting to push his daughter into lordship over the life of the questing knight. Given the reason he is doing that is as much or more to keep her alive as to secure his legacy, you cannot bring yourself to blame him for it.
Brienne of Tarth has grown into her role, you realize, as the young woman steps into the sept, quite literally in some regards, shooting up even further in height and bearing her armor with the easy stride of one who has faced battle in it. But more than that, there is a confidence to her you had not seen before, sky blue eyes meet yours without hesitation.
"Your Grace, Your Highness, Ser knight an honor to see you again," she says, bowing to each of you in turn as custom demands. Turning again to you she adds. "Know that your gift has been of great use to me this past year. It likely even saved my life during my past battle."
From the way her father starts, you suspect that is something she had never said in so many words before, proof if any was needed that one need not lie directly to shade the truth. You can no more blame her for wishing to keep Lord Tarth from worrying than you can see him ill for trying to keep her safe.
"I am glad it could help, my lady. I came bearing considerably more help if you would take it," you motion to the chest. "Weapons and armor talismans, philters and potions, but above all else books that you may know the dangers of this new world we find ourselves in."
"Thank you, Your Grace." A shy smile touches her lips, reminding you that for all the stern duty that rests upon her shoulders, she is still a girl of four and ten. "Strangely enough, I have found that after taking up lance and sword as I have always dreamed, that I should have paid more attention to the maester's lessons."
"It would've mattered little if you had listened and remembered every dusty lesson," Ser Richard interjects. "There's nothing said there of grumpkins and snarks."
Though Brianne laughs at the jest, her eyes soon darken. "Alas that there are far worse things than both in the world than the bard's fancy can hold."
Silence falls, though it is soon broken by Lord Tarth proclaiming without preamble: "I did not call you here only to see the gifts His Grace has left us, but bearing the news that he has agreed to recognize you as my heir. Given... current circumstances it would be best for you to swear your own oath now."
The young woman looks at her father sadly: "You already swore an oath of service father."
You open your mouth to make the same points you had so many times before, but Lord Selwyn speaks first. "So I did, to Robert Baratheon, lord of the Stormlands by right of birth upon his father's death. However upon gaining the Iron Throne by the strength of his hammer, he has not proven himself worthy of that honor."
"A fact which his brother, the current lord of Storm's End, agrees with," Dany adds to the surprise of father and daughter both.
"I... truly?" Brienne blurts out, blushing a moment later likely at the fact that she had inadvertently called your sister's word into question.
"Yes, it was not an easy thing to convince him," you say, the greatest underestimation you have ever spoken seriously.
For a moment there is no sound save the sound of Brienne's armor as she shifts from foot to foot. "Your Grace, I am not certain how to answer your offer without seeming ungrateful, so I will do to plainly and beg pardon for any offense I may give. A true oath I can give you, but one that will extend no further than the one my father set aside today. While you rule in a just and honorable manner for the benefit of your people than you can count upon my sword. I hope that I shall never see the day when that would not be true."
A courtier she will never make, you think, though far from offended. You had considered the circumstance where the Warrior would ask of her to act against you, but for her the distinction is one of conscience. Though you suspect she cannot imagine a circumstance where He would ask her to act dishonorably, her answer would be the same even then. You can see that truth clear in her eyes as she speaks.
What do you do?
[] Accept Brianne's oath
[] Point out to lord Tarth that he is pushing his daughter into yet more responsibilities, offer instead to attempt to raise his son
[] Write in
OOC: Here we are, everyone here has good intentions, but they have different priorities. I'm interested to see what you guys make of this. Also this is probably the last full update in Tarth so so vote on what to do next would not go amiss.
You know Viserys is not the only person who can do that. You can delegate this to a non-companion with good social skills, you could just say give her a phoenix or one of Yrael's angels, they are kind honorable beings who support Visrerys.
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- ?????????
Does Waymar have a squire?
- Location
- Humanity's Capital - New York
[X] Accept Brianne's oath
We've pretty much established we need to deal with the Seven in some fashion given how broken Heaven is. She's not being unreasonable here. Not for nothing we actually plan on ruling in a just and at least moderately honorable manner. Long term exposure ala Waymar should go a long way to buffing the rough edges some.
We've pretty much established we need to deal with the Seven in some fashion given how broken Heaven is. She's not being unreasonable here. Not for nothing we actually plan on ruling in a just and at least moderately honorable manner. Long term exposure ala Waymar should go a long way to buffing the rough edges some.
- Location
- United States
Assigning a Phoenix to Tarth would probably help a lot.
Nope, but he does have minions.
- Location
- Germany
Didn't think about this.
I would feel a bit dirty about using an Archon to manipulate children for us, but then again it's for her own good and eventually survival.
And her father would likely take no issue with a guardian angel for her.
No for the same reason Ser Richard does not, the squire has to stick with the knight and any squire who would get into what would be a serious encounter to either of them would be vaporized.
Neither the phoenix nor the archon would consider it manipulation, they would be honestly presenting their perspective on the world and the reasons for working with Viserys.
- Location
- Germany
[X] Accept Brianne's oath
-[X] Ask if she has need of a good scout in her endevours and ask Yrael if he can spare a Spyglass Archon, maybe the one we first met in Mantarys, who gave a bit of himself for Glyra?
-[X] If both agree ask the Archon to try and inform her about our reign and realm while working with her, preferable not in too-big pieces at once
-[X] Ask if she has need of a good scout in her endevours and ask Yrael if he can spare a Spyglass Archon, maybe the one we first met in Mantarys, who gave a bit of himself for Glyra?
-[X] If both agree ask the Archon to try and inform her about our reign and realm while working with her, preferable not in too-big pieces at once
- Location
- United States
The Archon would be multi-purpose. It's living proof of benevolent outsiders who aren't beholden to the Seven. That said, assigning a Lesser Phoenix to her would be fine as well.
They don't have squires, but they do have groups who look to them for training.
Ser Richard trains all of the Minotaur Fighters, with Argo being a special case taking to his fighting style faster than most.
Ser Waymar has his Griffin Knights Order, and even if they're currently low-level they should be improving fairly rapidly. I imagine a few standouts will evolve among them.
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- ?????????
Phoenixes are excellent teachers. Assigning one to her would do her and her friends good. Also we are her sponsor now. That is the word for it correct?
- Location
- United States
@Artemis1992, can you add a Lesser Phoenix in addition to the Spyglass Archon? Multiple perspectives from beings sworn to us and actively supporting us certainly won't hurt.
- Location
- Germany
I recommend a Spyglass Archon.
Preferably the first one we met.
Those are, in general, very useful scouts for someone who can't fly or turn invisible.
And on the other hand this one in particular has seen our rise almost from the start and has been with Yrael through all the decisions that eventually made him fall,
I think he would be a great choice here.