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

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[X] Proceed as planned. Anything else in particular that needs to be discussed in-depth can be handled separately from this speech, which is more about securing the Volantene nobilty's cooperation.
 
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Part MMMC: Sealed In Blood
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    • Sealed In Blood ​

    First Day of the Eleventh Month 293 AC

    "Sons and Daughters of Valyria, I have no doubt you have your own means to have heard the promises and warnings given to the masses outside these hallowed halls," you begin addressing the gathered magisters in what may well be the last session of the Volantene assembly of the Forty. Still, these men and women will not lose their influence overnight, nor will their gold evaporate from their vaults. You truly hope they are listening for as in Myr, in Tyrosh, and even in Lys the way forward will be clearer the more of the highborn realize it is wiser not to lay themselves across the road to the future as stumbling blocks. "So I will dispense with both, as what I speak implores you to simply pay witness to the unvarnished truth. Let this be the first counsel of many I take up with you. You deserve no less than that for you have chosen with forethought the better path for your kin."

    There is no grumbling in response, not truly, but you catch a few among the Tigers in their crimson shrouded seats bite their tongue against some response. That too is wisdom of a sort you suppose.

    "Out there, the common man, barring the few with the talent, will, and ambition to rise above their current status, have little need to do more than live their lives to the fullest extent to which they are obliged as citizens of a new realm, to reap all the benefits of being united under one banner," you continue, adding a dollop of flattery to make the bitterness go down easier.

    A few sit straighter, pride stiffening their spines. Time will tell how well it can be yoked to duty, but if those hopes should prove false you have no doubts that you can find others to step into their shoes. "A realm where the rule of law is the order of the day, where the stern hand of justice guards men and women's livelihoods and ensures the common betterment of all, highborn or low, for when their rulers prosper so too those who follow them are able to."

    A single silvery peel rises from a bell set in an ivory frame. The Voice of Peace, the speaker for the Elephants would have words with you it seems. Though Zherys' ally who speaks for the Tigers is ready to strike his own bell and thereby formally silence his peer you subtly wave off the offer. You are not one so silence dissent merely for existing.

    "You say law, Kaelos, but whose law will it be? The Law of barbarians from beyond the Sunset Sea where they choose their kings by how hard they can swing a hammer? The Law of Braavos where the rowdy mob yaps at their supposed betters?"

    A look at Zherys shows the Archon of Volantis nod ever so slightly, though your minds are not bound together by magic you can practically hear him say: 'Yes I propped him there for being an fool, all the better to manipulate.'

    "My laws," you answer firmly. "I can provide you with a copy once we are done here."

    The answer prompts a few nervous laughs as the Voice of Peace sinks slowly back into his seat under your gaze, sweating hard enough to stain the collar of his amethyst robes. Once he is seated again you continue: "Let me be open and honest, for we of all people cannot afford self-delusion. Not any longer. We are facing a new age with all its wonders, and its terrors."

    "All I have done for the past four years was deliberate, calculated, yes, sometimes even ruthless. But it was also done with the minimum amount of bloodshed, lost lives, and guaranteed stability throughout Western Essos in the long-term," you continue, shifting your gaze to the room at large. "The current state of affairs was not won without that bloodshed, but you will find, and I hope eventually make peace with the knowledge, that it was a mercy for slavery to die a quiet death. It could have been so much worse, after all, seeing as how Fiends had been plotting for centuries to exploit that arrow in their quiver and use the chaos to reap a bloody harvest."

    "Wisdom, is this true?" one young man among the Tigers calls out, shocked, all protocol forgotten, at least until Zherys fixes him with his own displeased stare.

    "It is unwise, Xaelor, to question either the sincerity or the knowledge of the King," the High Speaker notes dryly. Then with a weary sigh of the sort you imagine he would give to a foolish apprentice if he had the time for it he adds, "Yes, it is entirely true. Hate and fear breed the influence of Fiends, and slavery has sowed a great harvest of both, the slave's hate and the master's fear, despair and distain twined to open a path for the darkest of spirits. We might have held them off for a time by skill and good fortune, but they are both endless and eternal. While the wound remained open it was inevitable that it would fester."

    The young man... boy really, he is only a few years older than you, swallows and offers an apology, going so far as to suggest removing himself from your presence if you so desire.

    "Be at ease, my lord," you reply, deliberately avoiding the word for master. "I take no offense at honest questions, nor am I in such a hurry that a moment's interruption would drive me to anger. In truth I need your help, all of you. There is much yet to be done beyond the walls of Volantis. Slavery lives on in some parts of the continent. Our work will never be done until it is at an end, our safety will never be guaranteed from the guile and scheming of Asmodeus or his ilk if we do not strike off the last collar and melt down the last chain."

    You speak of Hell then, not as a priest might of the corruption of the soul and the torments of the unworthy, but as a foe to be vanquished, as one who can be vanquished. "That is just one among a host of threats I have worked against. That will alone could grant me the strength to deny this foe his unwarranted tithe, they have not had free reign of this Plane because of it. He tried to yoke chains onto our ancestors, and too many of them snapped their own collar on for temporal glory and influence in a world uncaring. To that I say this: 'Go to Hell', all Nine of them, and stay there."

    Laughter breaks the shocked silence, they had not all been caught unprepared by the substance of your words, not even half of them you would judge, but few had not expected you to speak so freely of it.

    "With your aid, my lords and ladies, so he shall," you finish no louder than before, but with the full conviction of your path amplified by the spells that still shroud you. "Each time the Lord of Nessus' hand slips to take the fraying edges of our kindred into his midst, we shall slap it away."

    They cheer now, the Tigers with conviction, the last of the Elephants more with fear, though whether it is fear of you or of devils is more than you can guess. Once the hall is quiet again you continue: "Yet for all that, for all those victories, for much of that time, I was an object of mockery and scorn. I have clawed back the respect and prestige of my line, each step of which was necessary to even be able to make these statements before this assembly, because even that much is necessary, to ensure your ears are listening and your eyes remain wide open."

    The lanterns above sway gently, though no hand moves it. The shadows dance through the halls of power as though seeking new seats.

    "I did not take up the Jewel of Volantis into my crown to lay more triumphs upon that name as my forefathers have with other realms. Aegon spurned the open hand of Volantis because he had a vision all of his own, and likely found the thought of a rival uncontested too burdensome to stomach. In this I think he erred. I have always been of the mind that the Conqueror ruled with too light a hand, that his ambitions were not as grand as history implies, or his work might not have been nearly undone a dozen times in three centuries," you speak your mind once more in measured careful tones and look about you for any who would contest the words, yet there are none here and now at least.

    After a moment's heavy silence you add: "I will not cow my prospective vassals with vulgar displays of power until they all fall in line and then forget the scheming and the resentment that might foster. There will be no more room for corruption, for infighting and undercutting each other because we cannot afford it. We cannot. We are faced with the threat of annihilation. It is time to accept this fact, for we are responsible, together, for staving it off. Any man or woman among you with the stomach for it, remain, or else leave advisers in these halls who can guide you along the path we all must take, to even have a legacy to leave to our descendants in the first place."

    None rise and none leave of course, that much is ingrained into any who would stand upon these seats, but is it more than that, you wonder. Time alone will tell. "Lord Naethyreon, I have given you a full accounting of our task. You were the first to recognize that it was an effort that could not be undertaken alone. For that, I thank you, and reward you," you proclaim.

    Zherys comes to stand beside you then kneels, proffering his left hand palm outstretched without a single flinch he cuts a long shallow line in the flesh with a jeweled athame and proclaims: "My blood is yours, my lord."

    "It shall be well guarded," you reply, sealing the wound with a spell. "You who have taken counsel with me and called me to the city as Volantis did Aegon were not mistaken this time. I will see this city rise taller and grander than at any point before in history, and you will be there by my side every step of the way. Now it is your burden to prepare this august body for the days ahead, for the wars we must fight and for the calamities we must face. In the fullness of time, as with the citizens we have guarded and guided along arduous paths, we too as they, shall reap the rewards of safety and succor for all, as we shall be of that body, to enjoy that peace which we have wrought."

    Raising your voice for the first time since you had entered the chamber you proclaim at last. "Then, in its place, Volantis will stand a testament, as one with the will to see it through!"

    The room erupts into cheers, if not wholly sincere then as close as could be hoped and perhaps closer than the ones doing the cheering might have expected.

    It is not over so swiftly of course, there are rituals to enact and formalities to satisfy before you can be named Archon of Volantis in full and then hand the dignity back to Zherys, though bound in stronger ties than Valyria of old had kept. Still, once the task is done your business in Volantis is far from done. The manse that you had found burning on your first visit to the city is still engulfed in the flames of Ymeri's sorcery, though sealed. It is only fitting that if finally be snuffed out.

    How do you deal with the manse?

    [] Try to divine something of it
    -[] Write in how

    [] Seek out any Fey loyal to Ymeri that may have slipped into the city to interrogate

    [] Write in

    OOC: Apparently I underestimated how big this update would have to be. Fitting for Volantis, really.
     
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    • @DragonParadox I really liked that update. Did you notice how Viserys treated the Lords and Ladies of Volantis much, much differently than he did Tyrosh or even Lys and Myr? As differently from them as he did to each other?

    He spoke to them like adults, for a start, if not precisely equals. And it was even with some sincerity he could do so too since they managed to get their own house in order with little direct involvement from himself.
     
    Those were some excellent speeches.
    Also, those buff numbers are insane. What does an average diplomacy result of 130 even feel like to the crowd? We see the external result, but Viserys is throwing around diplo power here that makes most outsiders these people are likely to see seem like chumps. Screw the spies crapping themselves, I wouldn't be surprised if most of them have a revelation and turn themselves in.

    Incidentally, the red priests are probably filling up the last open spaces on their savior bingo cards and going out for more paper. Again.
    Viserys has moved past filling out prophesy and on to doing things they are genuinely surprised not to find prophecies of. :V
     
    Crake said:
    @DragonParadox I really liked that update. Did you notice how Viserys treated the Lords and Ladies of Volantis much, much differently than he did Tyrosh or even Lys and Myr? As differently from them as he did to each other?

    He spoke to them like adults, for a start, if not precisely equals. And it was even with some sincerity he could do so too since they managed to get their own house in order with little direct involvement from himself.
    Click to expand...
    Click to shrink...

    Yeah, Volantine formality might irritate him a bit, but this is the city that built a mage school long before he did, that sealed away the obvious magical hazard through negotiation of existing factions and generally dealt with his own problems.
     
    So how should we handle mansion? I don't think trying to force way in is the best decision personally so wouldn't be against interrogating a minion.
     
    I was hoping this would get us out next mythic rank we did accomplish a huge feat of building an empire. It would have been awesome if one of our speech's boasted us to mythic three and inspired someone so much they become the first one to be granted spells from us.
     
    Man, those last two updates were very satisfying, @DragonParadox. Very nice speeches you wrote, @Crake. 👍

    So it turns out that an 8 hour drive can become a 6.75 hour drive when you don't have to keep detouring to clean up dog vomit.
     
    Artemis1992 said:
    So, this is current Zherys: A Sword Without a Hilt: A Song of Ice and Fire/D&D 3.5 Crossover

    [] +1 Incantifier
    -[] +1 Charisma
    -[] +1 Level 8 Spell
    -[] +1 Concentration, Diplomacy, Knowledge (Arcana), Spellcraft

    Any idea for the spell?
    Click to expand...
    Click to shrink...
    I'm a big fan of Unyielding Form of Inevitable Death for folks that don't have an alternate True Dragon form.

    My Zherys build had him selecting Moment of Prescience for his first 8th level spell. It's not the most powerful of spells, but what it does it does very well. Seems like one he might choose, IMO.

    EDIT: Unyielding Form of Inevitable Death is a good choice for Zherys in part because he can use his little dragon wing thingy to get extra Swift Actions each day, allowing him to cast the spell for a quick buff/transformation without negatively impacting his actions in a round.
     
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