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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 goal would be to work backwards, build a new divine realm, fix a secure path toward it, staff it with defenders, then build 'roads' to allied divine Realms, also staffed with defenders.

Bringing Inevitable production on Mechanus back up would probably buy us a few centuries to actually pull off half that shit without Baator, Abaddon or the Void shitting Planar-sized armies down our throats.
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There was evidence that the inevitables actually helped break the Spheres, I say the universe is better off without the time-robonazies, unless we also get to decide on their firmware.
 
Artemis1992 said:
Eyewitnesses claimed that an army of them marched with Hell when Heaven fell.
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Twisted versions, and even then it's unconfirmed. There are conflicting claims that they tried to save Elysium beforehand.
Azel said:
And as the Deva shakes his head, you know their fate. It is Mereth though who elaborates. "Axis yet turns, but it has been lessened. While the city is not beholden to Baator, there are ties of trade and the occasional alliance of need in the Blood War, as Axis has been left without its old defenders. The Crucible lies cold and broken since before the war, and I think no one knows who did the deed. The Inevitables tried to save Elysium when it began to sunder, but they all disappeared and the rifts kept widening. They were already gone when the war started in earnest."

"Not quite." Stirred from his thoughts, Yrael interjects, "I've spoke with some who claimed to have seen them march along the enemy hosts during the Fall of Heaven. Twisted they were and filled with fell purpose, though what it was I can not even guess." A searching look falls on Mereth, though for what you can't say. "If you know nothing of them, then it might have not been in Baator's service. Or they all perished in the carnage."
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Duesal said:
Twisted versions, and even then it's unconfirmed. There are conflicting claims that they tried to save Elysium beforehand.
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It's the less reliable kind of evidence, true, but that kind of rumour usually contains a grain of truth, and their absence seems to indicate they either they are completely useless, or our enemies have a way to mass control them, neither of which should have us wasting resources on them.
Specially considering their nature would make them dislike us, and unlikely to understand "mortal things" like gratitude, and common sense.

Edit: And at the end of the day, why would we create a time police that is not beholden to us? i say we loot the forge and find a way to make our own robots, with a cooler name and smarter programming.
 
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das_slash said:
It's the less reliable kind of evidence, true, but that kind of rumour usually contains a grain of truth, and their absence seems to indicate they either they are completely useless, or our enemies have a way to mass control them, neither of which should have us wasting resources on them.
Specially considering their nature would make them dislike us, and unlikely to understand "mortal things" like gratitude, and common sense.

Edit: And at the end of the day, why would we create a time police that is not beholden to us? i say we loot the forge and find a way to make our own robots, with a cooler name and smarter programming.
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I'm not sure why you assumed we wouldn't make them beholden to us.
 
das_slash said:
They why call them inevitables and talking about restoring the forge? If its a new forge and a new robot police, then calling them inevitables only leads to confusion.
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Because functionally it'll be the same, just that we'll be in charge. And it is in fact restoring the Forge with a few tweaks, not just making a new Forge.

I'm not calling them robot police.
 
Firing the horse catcher is a bad idea.

Chain them to us ideologically first, then with magical command protocols.

Anyway. Being emperor kid would be sweet. What TNE designed was basically a supped up Gestalt class though. It should be conditional on something. Like "divine favor" or "the rightful command of the empire" or something else that ties you directly to your powerbase/source.
 
TotallyNotEvil said:
I've thought up what I think is an interesting SI challenge for ASWAH: on the dawn of the twelfth day of the ninth month, 289 AC, the Azure Emperor wakes up with a start, not himself anymore.

You have tbe advantage of knowing of a possible future, aka The Quest, and being a first level spellslinger of your choice. Over a few days you assimilate the knowledge he had.

You are the Azure Emperor (or Empress), absolute monarch of a vast and cultured empire. Theoretically.

In practice, you are an untested teenager whose authority might be shaky in your own palace, as master politicians with decades of experience and intricate webs of allies seek to make you their tool in one way or another and have had said decades to infiltrate every institution they can, your authority is a polite fiction after fifty or so quilometers from your capital, the tradition that gives you even that much is sacred and might very well hold back crucial moves and reforms.

Anonimity was absolutely crucial in our first year in Braavos, given that true personal power won't really kick in until level 8-10.

Building everything from the ground up is a shitload of work, but you are also completely free.

OTOH, you don't have to scrabble in the dirt, run from dothraki in the middle of wilderness or anything.

Of course, a mighty general of a rich trade city, and a sorcerer lord from a legendary city named Carcosa both challenge your rule, or will soon.

Sounds fun?
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How interesting !

Sounds very difficult, but not impossible. You would have to grab your first few levels through socials, and should probably "waste" a level dipping Binder just for Naberius. Then spend all my feats pumping my social skills (Item Familiar is deliciously broken, for example) and not my spell DCs.
I can live with low DCs. What I am trying to create is a Diplomancer !

Statwise, I would max Int, pump Cha as much as possible, and try to keep all other stats above 10 (Str is the dump stat for now). Int is for skill points and spell DCs, while Cha and Wis will power my main skills.

I want something like Beguiler (with a social focus and Wedded to History (the variant that lets me use Will for all saves a few times per day)), and a theoretical Son of Heaven PrC that is basically Rainbow Servant but for Celestials. Full casting, better domains, and eventual access to the entire divine spell list !

If this PrC is meant to be equivalent to Viserys' I would prefer to lose some elements (the stat boosts, the massive chassis...) if it meant I could get the capstone spread out among the ten levels, instead of giving shitty side-bonuses like Rainbow Servant. Or at least the side-bonuses would be better than Rainbow Servant, where they are a total joke.

All I really want is the great skills and divine spell access. The rest is just gravy, and I'm willing to lose some to get it earlier. Keeping as much as possible would be nice, but that would really depend on GM adjudication.

Goldfish said:
Think about it, though. The Azure Emperor is under constant scrutiny, always attended by servants, his actions recorded in meticulous detail, while what time he has is monopolized by officials and political duties. And the ceremonial duties and etiquette...maddening.

Sure, you can wield a certain kind of power, and you would be fabulously wealthy, but you would exist in a gilded cage on a death world, relying on others to defend you, since you are a target for ambitious traitors, foreign powers, extraplanar threats, etc.

I would rather be a nobody waking up in the wilderness, but with a chance to grow powerful instead of being trapped as the Emperor of Yi-Ti.
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Um, what.
Being the Emperor is theoretically a position of immense safety and wealth. Achieving this safety may be difficult, but think of the advantages you start with !
You have effectively unlimited WBLmancy, a massive action economy dominance (the power of underlings!) and as long as you can face the social threats and avoid assassination then you're fine.

More seriously, while I agree that this position sucks, starting at level 1 in the wild and trying to level up through fighting is just insanely difficult. You will probably just die cut to pieces by bandits or something.
Meanwhile this position affords you the safety and challenges needed to get to level 7 or so easily enough, just through social challenges. After that levelling starts getting harder, but that's when you can start to either try to enter contact with extraplanar high-CR beings (social encounters again, and opening some access to extraplanar markets - use underlings to do the summoning or Plane Shifting or whatever).
Oh, and the assassination attempts should help :D

I expect reaching level 10+ to be possible within that timeframe. Level 15+ is likely to take centuries (or just a lot of danger), but reaching a semi-decent level and getting a ton of WBL-mancy in seems quite possible before Viserys arrives.
 
Vote closed
Adhoc vote count started by DragonParadox on Aug 26, 2019 at 4:50 AM, finished with 92 posts and 11 votes.
  • [X] "I have one more thing to reveal, though it is mostly for thoroughness' sake. I was rather thorough as well when dealing with Tor and the fallout of his actions, and invested in another spirit an echo of their memories. I wished to know what paths he had taken since another of my foes, She of Many Colors, and Illyrio who she pacts with, had funded the construction of a fastness in the Shadow, and he walked those paths in his search for lore."
    -[X] "The trade did place limits on what knowledge he would retain, not his life from beginning to end, but there are fragments there, enough to cause discomfort. I had already bade him to leave you in peace and not to turn that knowledge to poison in the first place."
    --[X] Meet with Lady Uraka in Braavos to discuss transferring half of your newly emitted coinage and the Silk Note and Glass Scepter reserve into Imperial Vaults.
    --[X] Then discuss upgrading the Iron Bank's defenses extensively, the construction of a more appropriately sized and defensible branch in Sorcerer's Deep in preparation for eventual transfer of these accounts, and the assignment of an Imperial Herald to guard the Deep Vaults in the interim.
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Part MMMXXVI: Of Shadow and Iron
  • Threadmarks
    • Of Shadow and Iron ​

    Twentieth Day of the Tenth Month 293 AC

    "I have one more thing to reveal," you add in before the wine flowing freely can cloud anyone's judgement too much. "It is a small thing compared to what has already been said around this table, but one I think you deserve to know also."

    "Spit it out then," Lothos calls, belatedly adding "Your Grace," in a tone that in other circumstances would have gotten a laugh.

    "I was rather thorough when dealing with Tor and the fallout of his actions, and invested in another spirit an echo of their memories. I wished to know what paths he had taken since another of my foes, She-of-Many-Colors, and Illyrio who she pacts with, had funded the construction of a fastness in the Shadow and he walked those paths in his search for lore," you explain.

    Not for the first time you find yourself wishing the rakshasa had chosen another name to take for its own, but in the end the bitterness of that one small irony matters little before the sorrow that hangs over this hall tonight. "The trade did place limits on what knowledge he would retain, not his life from beginning to end, but there are fragments there, enough to cause discomfort. I had already bade him to leave you in peace and not to turn that knowledge to poison in the first place."

    "That is most appreciated," Menel says, having recovered something of his usual aplomb, though from the looks of Lothos and Koron you suspect they might almost welcome the chance to vent their anger at a deserving target.

    Leaving the five men to their drinks and their memories you head back to your own lunch, more for your mother's sake than for any desire to eat. Truth be told you look forward more to the distraction of reports, judgements, and decrees.

    ***​

    Your brief appearance before the court that day begins with standing in judgement over the case of a young squire and a would-be bravo who had attempted a midnight duel. Thankfully for the young men in question they did not actually fall under the authority of the greycloacks by virtue of almost pantomime-worthy incompetence, though their worried fathers had appealed to you to 'scare some sense into them'.

    "You know they're only two years younger than you?" Dany sends forth an arcane whisper from her place besides a visibly amused Lya.

    "They are also six years older than you," you reply in like tone. "Maybe I should have you catalog their follies."

    "I stand by my desire not to be Master of Laws," she calls back.

    Thankfully the next person to appear before your throne is not only invited but also welcome. Lady Uraka seems unchanged from the day you first met her, save for the satisfied gleam in her eye that may have been the reflection of the lantern light in the discrete silver ring marked with genie-wrought seals, a spell to twist time and another to escape at need. As clever as you had expected of one in her position.

    The public audience is brief, little more than a show of favor, though it does also give you the opportunity to announce many of your projects for Braavos and its hinterlands here in Sorcerer's Deep as well.

    Later, in private, you also look through details of not only the raising of Drowned Town but also the spread of the messenger service across former Braavosi lands. There are snags of course, problems with finding supplies, labor, horses, and other things, but nothing that cannot be solved with time and care from the local administrators.

    • Establish Messenger Service in Braavos (24/52)
    • Improve Infrastructure in Braavos (40/85)
    • Establish Messenger Service in Braavosi Coast (7/60)
    • Establish Messenger Service in Sweetwater (4/65)
    • Establish Messenger Service in Morrogos (6/29)

    Negotiations for assigning a herald to the Deep Vaults in preparation for improving the wards and eventually building a new branch of the Iron Bank in the Deep prove somewhat more tangled than you had thought as much of the power of the Keyholders is bound up in the physical possession of the former mines where the vaults are located. However, with all sides set to profit enormously from the expansion, concerns are smoothed over in a matter of hours.

    What do you do next?

    [] Write in

    OOC: Not a lot of fluff in this one, I felt like a full fledged visit to Braavos would be too distracting, especially since none of the projects are done yet. Edited.
     
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  • Threadmarks
    • Of Shadow and Iron ​

    Twentieth Day of the Tenth Month 293 AC

    "I have one more thing to reveal," you add in before the wine flowing freely can cloud anyone's judgement too much. "It is a small thing compared to what has already been said around this table, but one I think you deserve to know also."

    "Spit it out then," Lothos calls, belatedly adding "Your Grace," in a faintly <????> tone that in other circumstances would have gotten a laugh.

    "I was rather thorough as well when dealing with Tor and the fallout of his actions, and invested in another spirit an echo of their memories. I wished to know what paths he had taken since another of my foes, She of Many Colors, and Illyrio Mopatis who she pacts with, had funded the construction of a fastness in the Shadow, and he walked those paths in his search for lore," you explain.

    Not for the first time you find yourself wishing the rakshasa had chosen another name to take for its own, but in the end the bitterness of that one small irony matters little before the sorrow that hangs over this hall tonight. "The trade did place limits on what knowledge he would retain, not his life from beginning to end, but there are fragments there, enough to cause discomfort. I have already bade him to leave you in peace and not to turn that knowledge to poison in the first place."

    "That is most appreciated," Menel says, having recovered something of his usual aplomb, though from the looks of Lothos and Koron you suspect they might almost welcome the chance to vent their anger at a deserving target.

    Leaving the five men to their drinks and their memories you head back to your own lunch, more for your mother's sake than for any desire to eat. Truth be told you look forward more to the distraction of reports, judgement, and decrees.

    ***​

    Your brief appearance before the court that day begins with standing in judgement over the case of a young squire and a would-be bravo who had attempted a midnight duel. Thankfully for the young men in question, they did not actually fall under the authority of the Greycloaks by virtue of almost pantomime-worthy incompetence, though their worried fathers had appealed to you to 'scare some sense into them'.

    "You know they're only two years younger than you?" Dany sends forth an arcane whisper from her place beside a visibly amused Lya.

    "They are also six years older than you," you reply in like tone. "Maybe I should have you catalog their follies."

    "I stand by my desire not to be master of laws," she calls back.

    Thankfully, the next person to appear before your throne is not only invited, but also welcome. Lady Uraka seems unchanged from the day you first met her, save for the satisfied glam in her eye that may have been the reflection of the lantern light in the discrete silver ring marked with genie-wrought seals, a spell to twist time and another to escape. As clever as you had expected of one in her position.

    The public audience is brief, little more than a show of favor, though it does also give you the opportunity to announce many of your projects for Braavos and its hinterlands here in Sorcerer's Deep as well.

    Later, in private you also look through details of not only the raising of Drowned Town, but also the spread of the messenger service across former Braavosi lands. There are snags, of course, problems with finding supplies, labor, and horses, but nothing that cannot be solved with time and care from the local administrators.

    • Establish Messenger Service in Braavos (24/52)
    • Improve Infrastructure in Braavos (40/85)
    • Establish Messenger Service in Braavosi Coast (7/60)
    • Establish Messenger Service in Sweetwater (4/65)
    • Establish Messenger Service in Morrogos (6/29)

    Negotiations for assigning a Herald to the Deep Vaults in preparation for improving the wards and eventually building a new branch of the Iron Bank in the Deep prove somewhat more tangled than you had thought, as much of the power of the keyholders is bound up in the physical possession of the former mines where the vaults are located. With all sides set to profit enormously from the expansion, however, concerns are smoothed over in a matter of hours.

    What do you do next?

    [] Write in

    OOC: I thought about doing a full fledged visit to Braavos but felt like it would be too distracting, especially since none of the projects are done yet. Not yet beta-ed.
    Here's an edited version of the chapter, @DragonParadox.
     
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    Artemis1992 said:
    Heaven council?

    Still not sure how much we should make public.
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    Should probably get it out of the way, but I'm still not sure quite how much we should reveal, and who we're going to share that knowledge with.

    Maybe we should invite Embra to take part? She might like to visit and I'm sure she wouldn't mind some responsibility. I get the impression that she's bored in Armun Kelisk. She could make a great outsider's perspective on the whole issue.
     
    Acolyte said:
    Also who are attending. I would assume every religion would have a representation.
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    Aerm, no.
    The point is to inform all of our trusted subjects, and "trusted" in the meaning "won't fuck shit up when they hear how fucked the planes are in fact" too.
    There are very few religious figures that would take the revelation well, and fewer still serve us.

    The idea was...
    To listen to everyone's ideas, I suppose.
    To find a way to slowly introduce the fact to the Empire... or to decide if it should be introduced at all, at least until Imperial Dream is ready.

    The Inquisition is uspposedly already gotten the knowledge in the background (since, well, it's kinda important to their MO), Scholarum was taught wrong stuff all the short while it worked, and general population has no idea how planes work to begin with.

    @everyone, we may want to vote on what kind of propaganda we shall spread with Truespeech presses, and where/when to do it.
    Well, they were supposed to start printing with the start of this month, but I suppose that doesn't matter much, only that we vote on this shit sooner or later.
     
    Preliminary plan. Who else should we invite? I'm sure there are a lot of folks who just aren't coming to my mind at the moment.

    [X] Reconvene with your most trusted allies and subjects on the matter of Heaven's Fate - and how much of it should be known to general populace.
    -[X] Invite Lady Embra to join the meeting. Her perspective as one who has known of the Breaking, and lived among those mortals who have come to grips with that knowledge, could offer valuable insights. Extend a similar invitation to our allies among the Shaitan, specifically the daughter of House Adjan whose name currently escapes me.
    -[X] Invitation List: Companions (those who are present in SD), Zherys, the Sealord, Wyla, the Doran and Oberyn Martell, Lady Pharssen of Myr (can never remember her name), ????
    --[X] The state of Heaven and the rest of the Spheres was distorted in the system of education of your realm so far - and where Inquisitors shall be informed of the truth regardless, the current students and members of Scholarum, as well as any future ones, may be in need of being brought into the matter slowly/carefully, so as to not cause undue... problems the revelation may hold.
     
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