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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:
The Weight of Silence and the Worth of Words ​

Twenty Second Day of the Eleventh Month 293 AC

For as long as Soft Strider could remember before she chose to follow the Dragon south, she had known that hers was a last shoot upon a dying tree, the Singers falling into silence as the mingled voices of a thousand realms of men filled the void. So it was and so it would ever be. Neither strength of arm, keenness of eye, nor even the blooming of magic could undo it. The most that they could hope was to pass on the embers they had been guarding. Then one day it had changed, between sunrise and sunset, a fire in the south was revealed. Soft Strider had followed it and there she had found hope and more than that, knowledge of the wider world and its wonders, of things beyond even the borders of earth and sky.

Yet not all knowledge was sweet upon the tongue, nor all understanding pleasant to behold. That there had been an age before this one, when men and Singers lived together beneath the pale limbs of the weirwoods, she had known from tales, but never before reading that parchment in the Builder's hall had Soft Strider wondered how that age was born. Foolish of me, thought the Singer in the silence of her mind. All things are born in blood.

They passed beneath the archway of the barrow under the gaze of guards, at once curious and wary, without speaking a word. What would they say to know that those they called 'Children of the Forest' and now counted little more than myth and tale, had once cast down elder gods, the deed echoing defilement down the long ages, its remnants even now stirring below? The first Lady Dustin would never have disturbed the dead had the call of the Green Gods not inclined her to care little for the ways of her ancestors and less for their gods. Fools and defilers, wreckers of trees, such easy words to think, to whisper into the dreams of men.

Many a time had Soft Strider hoped that men would be less short-sighted, but now for the first time she was thankful that they did not remember old grudges.

"Are you alright?" the soft voice of the many-eyed watcher of beauty called from behind her.

"I am... no worse than I was a moment ago," the Singer replied, hand tightening around the spine of her bow, mentally shaking herself to make the words truer. A barrow of the unrestful dead was no place to ponder the evils of the past. The present had dark gifts aplenty in this place. At the quizzical look and tilting of stalk-eyes, she added. "I was considering the evils that made this place and the tormented one below. Some belong to my kin."

For a long moment he floated in silence beside her as they traveled down the dark hall, more comforting than the urgency with which men so often spoke. "They belong to those alike to you in form, perhaps alike to you in mind, I do not know for I have not met them, but however alike they may be, they are not you any more than two notes in the same pitch sung apart can be counted one."

"Jorondr Dustin, we come to free you of your long binding, of the weight of your curse. Let bronze shine red with battle here in the depths one final time and in defeat or victory you will be freed," the bard Danar called out in the deepest part of the barrow, where the chill of death was deepest, where the dark fey said their master opened the way.

Stone grated on stone, stale air flowed into the chamber, and below them steps there were now winding into the dark. "Come then into my halls and sup at my table..." words of that which men called the Old Tongue these were, but of an elder sort yet that Soft Strider's ear could barely pick out the words.

Soft Strider stepped out past Danar to scout the blackness. No matter who could be counted guilty of this horror it was time and past time that it be ended.

OOC: No battle in this one. I could not figure out a way to include it without harming the tone of the chapter. Soft Strider interludes are tricky.
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Here's an edited version of the chapter, DP.

Aww, Soft Strider, don't be sad! Everyone's ancestors sucked. It's Planetos, after all.

/hug Soft Strider
 
Hopefully this ominous underground Undead encounter will go unlike every other ominous underground Undead encounter in the history of time, and not result in a fight to the (Un)death.

I'm worried about Soft Strider and Naria, even if this isn't too far above the group's CR rating.
 
Vote closed.
Adhoc vote count started by DragonParadox on Nov 16, 2019 at 12:45 PM, finished with 33 posts and 12 votes.
  • [X] Meet with Lord Paege first. Try to sound out his concerns in the War in the Riverlands. If he seeks to raise his House's fortunes you can assure that in a number of ways without resorting to bribery, simply by pointing out some of your plans to make the war go smoother, how infrastructure in your realm has been updated simply to ease transport of troops and trade without any of the exorbitant expenses that have long denied that ambition even to the greatest of Targaryen Kings.
    -[X] With a commiserate rise in trade and craft as people flow where prosperity leads, his lands would naturally grow richer, and of course you have always carefully given special consideration to the industries in different areas of your realm so that they might benefit from the right experts or with the right sorcery to be leveraged.
    -[X] You feel fairly confident in this meeting, but once you've secured his allegiance see if he has any local concerns either to do with BLAST agents or with the supernatural, and pledge to see them dealt with.
    --[X] Then move on to Lord Roote, unless there's some other decision to be made that would be given precedent.
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Goldfish said:
This would be a prime location to put a MirrorVision mirror to allow the upper crust to enjoy the entertainment without having to associate with the plebs.

It could be housed in a small but well appointed theater, with luxury box seating, standard row seating, and small booths, all to make the wealthy and connected feel comfortable and to foster a sense of privacy. A great place to conduct a bit of private business, and a great places to be secretly spied upon conducting said business.

EDIT: Each box and booth could even include a magical "white noise" generator which also activates a hidden audio recorder when used by occupants. There are spells perfect for this.
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Remember this idea @Goldfish? Our first "movie theater" prototype! (at the Purse Club) Definitely allocate a Mirror vision screen for this. WIDE SCREEN AUDIENCES! Exclusive premiers. :ogles:

Red carpet affairs!
 
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Can we just retroactively assign them to something minor?

With all the stuff that goes through the thread it's easy to forget things, but it seems like it'd be a while different thing IC to have a frost giant wandering around trying to figure out what they're supposed to be doing. I mean would you just take a red dragon's money and sit on it without even trying to make good on your contract?

As a side note, are we going to take a minute to investigate Mother Earth while in Westeros? She managed to offer that kid a position in her clergy, which means there's good odds she has a religious site of some significance in that forest.

It's a buyer's market for divine favor right now, so we might as well make an offer while we're in the neighborhood.
 
BronzeTongue said:
As a side note, are we going to take a minute to investigate Mother Earth while in Westeros? She managed to offer that kid a position in her clergy, which means there's good odds she has a religious site of some significance in that forest.
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We have a Minor Action voted-in this month to maybe talk to this kid, since he's our only lead there.
egoo said:
[X] Have Divinations run targeting Denys Mallery - ensuring his safety wherever his father decides to send him.
-[X] It might be a good idea to visit him as the cleric of the Earth Mother in person (be it reality or but a dream) - in the light of the deal you set up with the Storm God, he is your best chance at reaching his patron... And, perhaps, ensuring that her blessings spread far and wide, ensuring both her, and your realm's prosperity.
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I do agree that she is of interest to us.
Really, any God that doesn't trigger our sensibilities much, is a God we can use at this point.

OG-hate-on aside, she doesn't seem to be anywhat problematic... or having much choice beyond the boy.

Whom she'd be afraid of us locking down, I assume.
Mostly-dead Gods don't seem to have much choice in what Clerics they get - and he's somewhat well-empowered by mostly-dead-deity's standards.
So, we kinda have the position of strenght too, if she tries being bitchy about things.
 
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Well, now I really want to loot-visit other Snek-cities.
Naja Fountain
The Naja Fountain lies in the depths of Ss'thar'tiss'ssun in the Shrine of Cowled Serpents, near the main altar to Ssharstrune. Its large pool is encircled by the carved statue of an amphisbaena with both pairs of jaws interlocked. Small snake statuettes rear up from the heart of the pool, spitting streams of water into the air. For millennia, the Naja Fountain was the lair of the ha-naga Terpenzi, but it has lain untended since the Year of Moor Birds (90 DR).
The effective arcane caster level of anyone who bathes in the Naja Fountain permanently increases by +3. This benefit can be gained only once per creature. Furthermore, immersion in the fountain's waters confers the benefits of a heal spell for every round of immersion. Finally, any living creature in contact with the fountain's water is immortal and does not age, though these benefits are lost if the creature ceases contact with the water. The water loses all magical powers when removed from the fountain.
Overwhelming conjuration; CL 21st; Weight: N/A (immovable).
Source: Serpent Kingdoms
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Damn it, how are we supposed to loot all of Planetos in any reasonable timeframe?! :o :rage:

We'll have to try harder.
 
tarrangar said:
He has a legitimately good case though, I say we arrange things so Benjicot get declared guilty, but he get the right to pay for the revival of Harolds son, instead of being executed or taking the Black.

As Viserys noted, trying to resolve things in the court instead of by the sword is admirable, so stomping down on it, by giving anyone we like a level 15+ lawyer to get them off on a technicality, isn't a good plan
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I agree with the underlying sentiment here about maintaining the rule of law, but at the same time Ser Benjicott has been very loyal and very useful and rewarding that is important. This makes arranging for him to be found guilty utterly unacceptable.

Accordingly I think we should simply let Ser Benjicott know what is coming and cover his legal costs, as that both preserves the rule of law (far better than throwing the head of our DOJ/SCOTUS at the problem or simply issuing a royal pardon at any rate) and shows us standing by a man who was loyal to us even when doing so was time delayed suicide.

EDIT:

To clarify the key thing is showing that the rule of law is respected in our empire, but throwing Malarys at the problem is going to be seen as us all but dictating the outcome. However providing Ser Benejecott very good but ultimately mundane lawyers is simply giving a level playing field, thereby showing that we do respect the rule of law and stand by our loyalists.
 
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MTB said:
Delegation.
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But I wanna loot everything in person :cry:

*̷̬̘̩̝̺e̪̲͎͖̼̻̘͘l̼̠̫̳̻̱d̼̯̖̞̮ͅr̤̝̫̺͖͈̞ì̖t̗͖͓͠c̸̗h ͙̹͙̬̹̻̫͢c͏̥͔̦̱̬o̶̳̼̤̹̭rv̡̘̤̬͕͈ị͉̫̦̰̯d̮̪̰̩̞ ̜̫c̴͈̠̦̱̼r̫͢i̲͇̘̰̺̹̣e͠ṣ ͔͉o̪͍͕̗̘f̢̘̰͎ a̖̦̪͇̺n̻̙͙̲̙͞g̵͓̮̻ṳ̪͡i̴̠̯̙ͅͅś͕h̭̜̲̥͈̱*̯̟͖̖̠
 
Smartphone said:
I agree with the underlying sentiment here about maintaining the rule of law, but at the same time Ser Benjicott has been very loyal and very useful and rewarding that is important. This makes arranging for him to be found guilty utterly unacceptable.

Accordingly I think we should simply let Ser Benjicott know what is coming and cover his legal costs, as that both preserves the rule of law (far better than throwing the head of our DOJ/SCOTUS at the problem or simply issuing a royal pardon at any rate) and shows us standing by a man who was loyal to us even when doing so was time delayed suicide.
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He could get a fair trial, petition the king for mercy, and get it.
egoo said:
But I wanna loot everything in person
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Permanencied telepathic bond.
 
Crake said:
@Goldfish ...did we entirely forget we hired these guys for a six month contract and waste TWO MONTHS of it by forgetting?! :o
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To be fair, we have a lot going on... :oops:

I guess we can assume they've been training Legion soldiers. Maybe in cold environment warfare and survival?

Or maybe they have just been serving out their contract on the Golden Wind, helping Siduri and Yrten?
egoo said:
...
Well, now I really want to loot-visit other Snek-cities.

Damn it, how are we supposed to loot all of Planetos in any reasonable timeframe?! :o :rage:

We'll have to try harder.
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Sweet baby Jesus...we need to check with Yss to see if this is a thing somewhere in the former lands of his people.
 
MTB said:
He could get a fair trial, petition the king for mercy, and get it.

Permanencied telepathic bond.
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That is the worst case scenario that I would be willing to accept, as it shows that loyalty to us trumps rule of law, which while acceptable is something I would rather avoid as it defeats the whole point of the rule of law.
 
Smartphone said:
I agree with the underlying sentiment here about maintaining the rule of law, but at the same time Ser Benjicott has been very loyal and very useful and rewarding that is important. This makes arranging for him to be found guilty utterly unacceptable.

Accordingly I think we should simply let Ser Benjicott know what is coming and cover his legal costs, as that both preserves the rule of law (far better than throwing the head of our DOJ/SCOTUS at the problem or simply issuing a royal pardon at any rate) and shows us standing by a man who was loyal to us even when doing so was time delayed suicide.

EDIT:

To clarify the key thing is showing that the rule of law is respected in our empire, but throwing Malarys at the problem is going to be seen as us all but dictating the outcome. However providing Ser Benejecott very good but ultimately mundane lawyers is simply giving a level playing field, thereby showing that we do respect the rule of law and stand by our loyalists.
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  1. The question is, does the law of your empire apply to a place you had not yet conquered. Because if that's the case there are a lot of Essosi magisters suspiciously unhung for being slavers.
  2. I also feel I have to mention that supporting one of your former enemies against a loyal knight would be seen monumentally poorly by the Lads.
 
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Inserted tally
Adhoc vote count started by DragonParadox on Nov 16, 2019 at 12:45 PM, finished with 33 posts and 12 votes.
  • [X] Meet with Lord Paege first. Try to sound out his concerns in the War in the Riverlands. If he seeks to raise his House's fortunes you can assure that in a number of ways without resorting to bribery, simply by pointing out some of your plans to make the war go smoother, how infrastructure in your realm has been updated simply to ease transport of troops and trade without any of the exorbitant expenses that have long denied that ambition even to the greatest of Targaryen Kings.
    -[X] With a commiserate rise in trade and craft as people flow where prosperity leads, his lands would naturally grow richer, and of course you have always carefully given special consideration to the industries in different areas of your realm so that they might benefit from the right experts or with the right sorcery to be leveraged.
    -[X] You feel fairly confident in this meeting, but once you've secured his allegiance see if he has any local concerns either to do with BLAST agents or with the supernatural, and pledge to see them dealt with.
    --[X] Then move on to Lord Roote, unless there's some other decision to be made that would be given precedent.
Click to expand...
 
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Part MMMCLXXVII: On the Path to Conquest
  • Threadmarks
    • On the Path to Conquest ​

    Twentieth Day of the Eleventh Month 293 AC

    Ser Halmon Paege reacts with surprising sagacity to having an unexpected letter drop onto the saddle pommel in front of him while he is riding. True, his eyes widen and his knuckles go white on the parchment as he reads, but he does not linger overlong on the task. The fact that it is printed in true-speech, like the parchments you spread last month, speaks to its veracity more than the wax seal ever could, but you included that as well in case he is inclined towards tradition. He does not look the sort, between the faintly disheveled hair and scruffy beard, wearing boiled leather and chainmail while on the hunt and counting somewhere around thirty namedays, but in such unsettled times many look to tradition for security.


    Thus when he dismounts and warily looks about, you come before him as the heir of Aegon, his crown clear upon your brow with Dark Sister at your right hand, though you hide neither the cloak of flowing gold nor the arcane rings upon your fingers. "Hail and well met, my lord," you greet. "If your horse can bear to bide a while along the trail here, I would speak with you on matters that concern all of the Riverlands, and all of the Seven Kingdoms in truth."

    "A grim day for the Riverlands when it is involved in matters of all the Seven Kingdoms... Your Grace," the knight replies with only a moment's hesitation. Perhaps to gather his thoughts, he glances over at Rina and Ser Richard who introduce themselves in turn, one curt, the other still uncertain what greeting one is supposed to make upon appearing from thin air in the woods like a grumpkin in a child's tale. The real answer is, of course, 'whatever greeting suits you', but that is something she will have to figure out for herself.

    "You speak of war," Ser Paege says, turning back to you again. Is he usually this blunt, or has the surprise not quite worn off and this is how he shows it, you wonder. Regardless, you appreciate the plain speaking.

    "I speak of war, yes, but also of what must come after war, infrastructure, trade, the turning of the world," you answer smoothly, for these are words you would carry to all the Riverlords. "It is a sad truth that war for the Iron throne so often leads to the burning of towns and the scouring of fields. Why is it that in one of the of the Seven Kingdoms, with rivers to serve as its arteries and the King's Road for its spine, there is not one city worth the name? Because warriors visit it too often and builders too seldom."

    So, unhurried and with care, you lay out your infrastructure projects with examples of what you have done already in Essos and the Stepstones, the message clear in every account. He does not have to risk anything besides the scowls of Hoster Tully to raise his banners in your name. You do not need Paege armsmen to win the Riverlands, but you would very much prefer not to see them stand against you.

    It seems you have judged the man well, for he does not seem insulted by the unspoken implication, taking the knee and reciting his vows as so many other lords and ladies had done already. Not your most enthusiastic supporter, certainly, but there are far worse things that can be said of a lord than that he prefers a quiet life.

    Your next meeting, however, will be perhaps a touch more tricky. While you have never met Lord Chester Roote, you have certainly made the acquaintance of many of his people at Harroway, and while you had given aid there, it had not been in a way to leave the House in a good light. The fact that the lord had been trying to contact the Mootons was certainly encouraging, and the divination you worked hours ago an assurance of the fact that he will meet with you, but you will have to tailor your introduction with more than a letter from the blue.

    How do you meet with Lord Chester Roote?

    [] The Merchant Gambit, if it isn't broke...

    [] Pass a letter though the septon of Harroway, he seemed a diplomatic enough fellow

    [] Send a construct raven with a letter, its almost traditional

    [] Write in

    OOC: And here we are, not the most complex discussion, but then this guy is far from a major lord so he would not have many requests at the best of times. In the middle of the woods with an unexpected dragon is not that time.
     
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  • Threadmarks
    • DragonParadox said:
    1. The question is, does the law of your empire apply to a place you had not yet conquered. Because if that's the case there are a lot of Essosi magisters suspiciously unhung for being slavers.
    2. I also feel I have to mention that sporting one of your former enemies against a loyal knight would be seen monumentally poorly by the Lads.
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    1. How would just declaring that crimes committed outside of an area we had not conquered yet are outside the jurisdiction of our courts come across? Would this weaken the rule of law or allow it to continue on as planned?
    2. Agreed, but it seems better than what tarrangar was suggesting, especially as my response to MTB shows I am fine with issuing a pardon if he loses the case.
     
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