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

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The kids are not going anywhere till that happens then. Joran can learn in the Scholarium for now. Also we need to get the Beguiler heir and the Mother Earth Cleric also. And then three dragons on the same team...oh lord.
 
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Adhoc vote count started by DragonParadox on Sep 22, 2019 at 11:12 AM, finished with 80 posts and 9 votes.
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Part MMMLXXVI: Upon Poisoned Lips
  • Threadmarks
    • Upon Poisoned Lips​

    Thirtieth Day of the Tenth Month 293 AC

    Though you doubt Ser Bryan's martial feats approach his boasts you must grant the man can hold his beer with a skill few could match under Varys' ever more impatient gaze while you, your mother, and Ser Richard talk around the circumstances here and what you might encounter among the other Houses you plan to visit.

    When a mental prod summons you again you find your quarry at last tired of his sport, his eyes begin to drop, his words slur and he rises unsteadily to his feet to seek his bed. His swaying path leads him vaguely in the direction of the younger of the two tavern maids, but the girl moves aside adroitly, almost without needing to look. It's all you can do not to laugh at the look of bemused disappointment that crosses his broad blotchy features. Shaking your head you walk up the narrow stairway, flicker through the door, and stand over the knight collapsed on the bed, to peer into his thoughts. What you find wipes all trace of a smile from your lips...

    There was indeed a plot, and though it is apparently Bryan Waters' alone it is no less vicious for it. You catch a glimpse of a dark-haired woman, soot and ash smeared over what had once been a fine blue dress, now ragged and worn—Janna Waters. You see meetings in secret and lovers' trysts, though from those you shift your mind quickly as not only to preserve her modesty, but because you do not wish to listen to the knight's thoughts at that time. Though he had seduced and bedded her, promising her the moon and stars, Bryan Waters sees her as nothing but a tool, a pair of ears to spy and hands to perhaps slip poison into Blount Keep.

    "...Don't you see, we are the same, both bastards in a cruel world. We have to take what is ours for no one man or god will give it to us..."

    ...Come on you little slut, I know you want to kill dear aunt Daelna, stop whining about it..."

    "...I'll wed you, cousin, and you will have the name that fate and your father's folly denied you..."

    ...once I reveal you for a poisoner I'll be the last one standing. The King's easy enough to fool if you know the right whore, and I know the best whoremonger in all King's Landing...

    Pushing away his thoughts is like breaking the surface of a sludge-filled pond, but the last fragment had caught your eye. Alas that you must dive in again, but in so doing you see that you had not been mistaken. You see a familiar man of grey-green eyes bright as Myrish glass, a lie in his every smile ever-so carefully setting the knight upon his murderous path, so deft and subtle the hand that he knows it not and even you had almost missed it. What Baelish had to gain in murdering the lord of a disgraced House and trying to set up a bastard in his place you cannot say, but doubtlessly it is as twisted as the rest of his ambitions.

    Instead you search back for the last meeting with Janna. The young woman was still reluctant to go through with the poisoning, but less so than before. Her aunt's abuse wearing away at her revulsion at the notion of kinslaying. It seems you had arrived not a moment too soon to end this mess before anyone dies of it. Still, the question remains of how you solve it. You have no real proof of any of these misdeeds save what you read in the knight's mind, and while you could have him captured and put to the question to verify your words that would also tar Janna with the same brush, and the poor woman has not yet committed any crime besides being resentful of being made a servant in her father's keep.

    What do you do next?

    [] Write in

    OOC: Since I know this will come up, yes, Bryan and Janna are first cousins, but their marriage would fine in Westeros in principle. The local definition of close-kin is very narrow. One Stark lord married his niece for instance according to the official genealogies.
     
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  • Threadmarks
    • DragonParadox said:
    What do you do next?

    [] Write in

    OOC: Since I know this will come up, yes Bryan and Janna are first cousins, but their marriage would fine in Westeros in principle. The local definition of close-kin is very narrow. One Stark lord married his niece for instance according to the official genealogies. Not yet edited.
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    [X] Cut this thread neatly. Ser Bryan will die of a hard to trace poison, painlessly passing in his bed tonight.
    -[X] You will corner Janna in private and reveal the plotting and how Bryan planned to betray her, then with the other hand offer her a place where she can make her own way in the world and advance on her own terms, either in the University of Sorcerer's Deep or the Scholarum if it suits her.
    --[X] Ambition by itself is no crime, it is quite useful to you actually, but it is worthless unless channeled correctly and you will ensure that the noble scions, natural born or otherwise, of Westeros, will have an avenue to advance them, even if you must start at offering royal stipends one dispossessed bastard at a time.
    -[X] We will approach Lord Bryan and inform him of the plot we've unraveled, and try to extract his pledge with promise of protection from further intrigues from King's Landing. In exchange we would like to give him advice on how to manage his own reputation in his fiefdom, as it was the poor state of things and his inability to wrangle his Keep that kept him from noticing the plot under his nose.
     
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    Crake said:
    -[X] We will approach Lord Bryan and inform him of the plot we've unraveled, and try to extract his pledge with promise of protection from further intrigues from King's Landing. In exchange we would like to give him advice on how to manage his own reputation in his fiefdom, as it was the poor state of things and his inability to wrangle his Keep that kept him from noticing the plot under his nose.
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    As a note this would not be impossible with Viserys' social skills, but without any proof it's not guaranteed either.
     
    DragonParadox said:
    Upon Poisoned Lips​

    Thirtieth Day of the Tenth Month 293 AC

    Although you doubt Ser Bryan's martial feats approach his boasts, you must grant the man can hold his beer with a skill few could match. While he drinks under Varys' ever more impatient gaze, you, your mother, and Ser Richard talk about the circumstances here and what you might encounter among the other Houses you plan to visit.

    When a mental prod summons you again, you find your quarry at last tired of his sport. His eyes begin to drop, his words to slur, and he rises unsteadily to his feet to seek his bed. His swaying path leads him vaguely in the direction of the younger of the two tavern maids, but the girl moves aside adroitly almost without needing to look. It's all you can do not to laugh at the look of bemused disappointment that crosses his broad blotchy features. Shaking your head, you walk up the narrow stairway, flicker through the door, and stand over the knight collapsed on the bed, to peer into his thoughts. What you find wipes all trace of a smile from your lips...

    There was indeed a plot, and though it is apparently Bryan Waters' alone, it is no less vicious for it. You catch a glimpse of a dark haired woman, Janna, soot and ash smeared over what had once been a fine blue dress, now ragged and worn. You see meetings in secret and lovers' trysts, though from those you shift your mind quickly, not only to preserve her modesty, but because you do not wish to listen to the knight's thoughts at that time. Though he had seduced and bedded her, promising the moon and stars, Bryan Waters sees her as nothing but a tool, a pair of ears to spy and hands to perhaps slip poison into Blount Keep.

    "...don't you see, we are the same, both bastards in a cruel world. We have to take what is ours for no one man or god will give it to us..."

    ...Come on, you little slut, I know you want to kill dear aunt Daelna, stop whining about it...

    "...I'll wed you, cousin, and you will have the name that fate and your father's folly denied you...."

    ...once I reveal you for a poisoner, I'll be the last one standing. The king's easy enough to fool if you know the right whore, and I know the best whoremonger in King's Landing...

    Pushing away his thoughts is like breaking the surface of a sludge-filled pond, but the last fragment had caught your eye. Alas that you must dive in again but so you see that you had been mistaken, you see a familiar man of grey-green eyes bright as Myrish glass, a lie in his every smile, ever-so carefully setting the knight upon his murderous path. So deft and subtle the hand that he knows it not, and even you had almost missed it. What Baelish had to gain in murdering the lord of a disgraced House and trying to set up a bastard in his place, you cannot say, but doubtless it is as twisted as the rest of his ambitions.

    Instead, you search back for the last meeting with Janna. The young woman was still reluctant to go through with the poisoning, but less so than before, her aunt's abuse wearing away at her revulsion at the notion of kinslaying. It seems you had arrived not a moment too soon to end this mess before anyone dies of it. Still the question remains, how do you solve it? You have no real proof of any of these misdeeds, save what you read in the knight's mind, and while you could have him captured and put to the question to verify your words, that would also tar Janna with the same brush. The poor woman has not yet committed any crime besides being resentful of being made a servant in her father's keep.

    What do you do next?

    [] Write in

    OOC: Since I know this will come up, yes Bryan and Janna are first cousins, but their marriage would fine in Westeros in principle. The local definition of close-kin is very narrow. One Stark lord married his niece for instance according to the official genealogies. Not yet edited.
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    Here's an edited version of the chapter, @DragonParadox.
     
    DragonParadox said:
    As a note this would not be impossible with Viserys' social skills, but without any proof it's not guaranteed either.
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    What would count as sufficient proof? Janna could help act as a character witness with some coaching, and we could point out that Baelish would have sufficient course to use his influence in King's Landing to gain a pliable ally, but is Ser Bryan for some reason a trusted and counted loyal knight in good standing? He seemed more like a blowhard.

    Edit: Really the only thing I can think of doing is imprinting an unconscious agenda on Ser Bryan to botch an assassination attempt, maybe attempt to kill Janna over a lover's spat, with a loud argument involving poison within coincidental hearing radius of passing servants, in a mad rage, but I would literally only do this if I intended to have him honestly try to kill her.

    Doesn't really seem worth it. I like to avoid messy endings unless the people are honestly deserving of being violently stabbed 37 times, having your own niece killed in that manner tends to make you careful about where you point your knives.
     
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    Crake said:
    What would count as sufficient proof? Janna could help act as a character witness with some coaching, and we could point out that Baelish would have sufficient course to use his influence in King's Landing to gain a pliable ally, but is Ser Bryan for some reason a trusted and counted loyal knight in good standing? He seemed more like a blowhard.
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    Having Janna as a character witness would probably do it, if she agrees to it and can hold up to telling her part.
     
    [X] Crake
    I'm kinda worried about everything blurring about now, what with it being the 30th already...

    And us yet needing reports on:
    Mages;
    Research/mage-teaching systems of Armun Kelisk;
    Divining the Chosen of Smith;
    Summoning/subsequent recruiting of Outsiders;
    Phoenixes/P!Archons starting a mental help facility;
    Someone recovering bodies of GC from Essaria;
    Lya reading Light of Creation;
    Us starting an artistic trend of depicting Viserys (to easily cast a speciific peeking spell for us)...

    And doing this shite, too :/
    [] 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.
    -[] Arrange a meeting with your Governors and/or Companions and/or Allies.
    --[] Decide the exact list when the time comes.
    --[] 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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    And that's on top of any economic/strategic stuff I really don't keep track of.
     
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    [X] Keep Ser Bryan alive for now, in fact it might be better if Lord Blount makes a hard decision starting with this traitor first.
    -[X] Approach Janna and try to convince her of the details of the scheme using your social skills and, admittedly, a vast power disparity. Then with the other hand offer salvation and hope. If she acts as a character witness you'll promise to make arrangements for her future fitting and commiserate to a noble-born scion of her status, with higher education or even magic open to her.
    -[X] Depending on how that conversation goes you'll try to convince Lord Petyr of this treachery together. You will give her at least a little help with Air of Nobility and Voice of the Dragon, and if fear is the issue, a boost of magical courage like with Samwell and Edric, if necessary.
     
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    egoo said:
    [X] Crake
    I'm kinda worried about everything blurring about now, what with it being the 30th already...

    And us yet needing reports on:
    Mages;
    Research/mage-teaching systems of Armun Kelisk;
    Divining the Chosen of Smith;
    Summoning/subsequent recruiting of Outsiders;
    Phoenixes/P!Archons starting a mental help facility;
    Someone recovering bodies of GC from Essaria;
    Lya reading Light of Creation;
    Us starting an artistic trend of depicting Viserys (to easily cast a speciific peeking spell for us)...

    And doing this shite, too :/


    And that's on top of any economic/strategic stuff I really don't keep track of.
    Click to expand...
    Click to shrink...

    I can cover the mage system tonight in a report from the newly made diplomatic corps (it's what they are for and it lets the Astral currents people go back to handling the business side)
     
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