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

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Part MMMCLXXXII: Of Ravens False and True
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    • Of Ravens False and True ​

    Twenty First Day of the Eleventh Month 293 AC

    Acorn Hall rests upon the one of the crests that ascent like steps to the haunted fastness of High Heart, its walls carved of the same light grey limestone has the hills upon which it rests. Looking carefully you can even see traces of the darker smoky bands that are so common in local rocks and which local legends hold were scorched there by the chocking killing smoke that enveloped the High Heart long ago when the Andals conquered these lands though you suspect nature before sorcery.

    Indeed you see not a glimmer of magic upon the streets of the village at the keep's foot and the rumors that drift by your ear as you write to Lord Theomar are thankfully common place, about cattle herds said to be coming in next market day weddings births and funerals often spoken of in the same breath and of course the weather. The most that could be counted a sign of changing times is one old gaffer warning a gaggle of half-grown children not to drive the cows too far into the hills 'or the grypkins'll get ye'.

    After you roll up the letter the unseen false raven surreptitiously snatches it from your hand and replaces it with the report you had asked for on the neighboring House Shawney, delighting in being able to play its trick in a public taproom.

    Alas that the parchment it delivered was hardly worth the trip. Benjicot and his Lads know very little of Lady Arild Shawney having no cause to quarrel with her and less to linger in her lands with Smallwood lands so close, and the forests that gave the House its name holding so many convenient hiding places. So you are left with what every traveler through these lands knows, that the lady is an heiress in her own right, a widow of five years and by all accounts not keen on wedding again as her first husband, a distant cousin of Lord Blackwood had left her with two heirs to carry on her House's legacy a boy and a girl, both still too young to foster.

    Yet even as you idly hand the parchment to Rina to read and begin weaving silent divination to see if the lady would be amenable to a visit an altogether different sort of raven speaks inside your mind: "The Shawney children are both wargs, I sensed them reacing out to the beasts and each other with their minds."

    "How did you know I was looking into the House?" you ask curiously. You have little doubt that the Last Greenseer could see through your wards if he set all his skill to the task, but he would not do so lightly.

    "You may be veiled Your Grace, your messengers are not, if one knows where to look," he replies. "The creatures are skillful enough to deceive men as to their nature, but other birds recognize their strangeness at once. So when I noticed one of them carrying something other than arcane writings regarding the follies of Baratheon and Lannister alike, I followed." You are happy to hear the amusement in his voice when he mentions the pamphlets, he has little enough cause for mirth in the usual course of things.

    "How did Lady Shawney take her children's gifts," you ask, thinking back the sad tale of House Mallery with concern.

    "As well as could be hoped, she has told them to keep it secret, but she has been quietly been seeking writings on wargs, given the rumors abounding about the new school of magic in the east I would not be surprised if she sent an envoy to Sorcerer's Deep some day soon Bloodraven replies."Of course that is has not done so yet denotes a certain hesitancy to commit to your cause."

    "I've dealt with worse tangles,"     you reply simply.

    "So you have. Good fortune Your Grace," Brynden Rivers bids you, his presence begining to recede from your thoughts.

    "And to you also my lord," you send back.

    About an hour later as you were just finishing the pleasant lunch of grilled carp fished int he local streams your messenger arrives with good tidings. Lord Smallwood had not only agreed to see you, but he notes that he will do so in the company of his lady wife. Given that Ravella Smallwood is the one who has been trying to push him towards raising his banners in your name you can doubtless count on her to do the same today.

    ***​

    The most you can say likens Lord and Lady Smallwood on first meeting is that they seem to be around the same age, but all else about them seems to contrasts. The lord is dressed in a plain brown doublet with simple bone buttons and no trace of trim, the sort of thing that even the average Braavosi banker would call dreary and most lords would askew outside the march or hunting for sport when finery would be wasted. Yet you suspect the Lord of Acorn Hall this is the norm whether from thrift or an ascetic disposition. He greets you with a a small stiff tilt of the head and a by now vary familiar 'my lord'.


    By contrast Lady Ravella Smallwood gives a deep courtly bow, silks and silks and satins rustling, thread of silver glinting even in the dim light that peeks between the drawn curtains of the solar. Her smile is no less bright than her garb, though her deep brown eyes reveal a searching gaze. You suspect Tom must have told her quite a lot about you leaving her now to weigh tale against experience.


    "Welcome to Acorn Hall Your Grace," she says the last word very deliberately Though her husband is not the most expressive of people you can read a tightening of his lips, but she seems to not notice, or at least pretend that she does not as she moves on to greet Rina, greet her as an equal you note, even though House Cox is less notable than both House Swann to which she had been born and House Smallwood into which she married.

    How do you approach Lord Smallwood?

    [] Point out how little Robert Baratheon has done to prepare the Seven Kingdoms for the coming of magic, a failing which even the Faith has been forced to admit and address during the conclave. In a realm where priests are the ones to take up the struggle against the enemies of all who is king.

    [] Enumerate the failings of Tywin Lannister in hoarding magic, putting smallfolk to the sword and countless other outrages. Many hate him him because of his vast wealth. They err. Better to hate him for being a miser who hordes the knwolege Westeros needs to survive and thrive in an ever stranger and more hostile world.

    [] Write in

    OOC: Some interesting rolls for House Shawney. Not yet edited.
     
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    • Oh, neat. We found some new Wargs. That's gonna be an interesting visit.
     
    Here's the blurb we have for Smallwood:
    "What of House Smallwood?" you ask, turning once more to Tom of Sevenstreams, expecting another of the bard's arch smiles.

    To your surprise you find his gaze solemn instead. "Ravella's little girl Carellen almost died of some pox or another last month. I had to sneak Masie in to heal her or the girl would have died same as her brother last year. She's been trying to get her husband to declare with Darry and the rest, but Ser Theomar is the sort to take all his vows seriously... all but his wedding vows that is to hear Ravella complain about it." He gives a small and you think genuine sigh, perhaps contemplating the times when Lady Smallwood would do more than just complain to him of her husband's infidelities.
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    How should we approach them, y'all? The child has been healed, so that angle is closed to us.
    egoo said:
    ...I think I found something special.

    Behold!
    Snek-puppos!

    :corgi: 🐍
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    Aww, that's adorifying. I can't decide if I want them to be warbeast-sized for combat use or small enough to be household pets.
     
    I am just not really intrigued in the Westerosi politics. Like if i could just block the entire continent from my mind i would do it. Essos is much more fun.
     
    [X] Point out how little Robert Baratheon has done to prepare the Seven Kingdoms for the coming of magic, a failing which even the Faith has been forced to admit and address during the conclave. In a realm where priests are the ones to take up the struggle against the enemies of all who is king.


    This seems good enough for now. Let us see how it goes.
     
    DragonParadox said:
    OK, one movement adding vote options.
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    Much appreciated.
    Don't take it bad, some people are just burned out by Westeros now.

    @everyone, I think after this one, we should just take a break and go back to interesting stuff Essos, dealing with Burny, Weeping Lady, Faceless Men, writing up our Marriage/Inheritance laws, etc..?
    We'll still manage this part of Westeros just fine from 25th of this month if we take a break.

    [X] Goldfish
    I don't trust myself to vote since I can't force meself to read the update- but I do trust in those who have higher Westeros-tolerance than me.
     
    [X] Point out how little Robert Baratheon has done to prepare the Seven Kingdoms for the coming of magic, a failing which even the Faith has been forced to admit and address during the conclave. In a realm where priests are the ones to take up the struggle against the enemies of all who is king.
    -[X] You note that Robert Baratheon hasn't been secure on his throne since shortly before the Ironborn uprising. When a King loses the confidence of the people he must act swiftly so that he can reassure them, to prevent thoughts of sedition and anarchy if nothing else. The bare minimum demanded of the man was to simply keep the peace until his children could inherit, but every plot and scheme launched from King's Landing had Lannister paw prints all over them, and hardly any accomplished much, let alone keep things 'peaceful'.
    -[X] Robert is obsessed with revenge against someone he's never even met. While you could understand hating your own House on principle, he has hardly acted in his own best interests as a ruler when it comes to the matter.
    -[X] That is all that he cares about. Should the Lords of Westeros raise banners for such a King who would be an empty man on an empty throne who offers naught the barest hint of attention toward their woes, even as night falls and men become prey for all manner of creatures?
     
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    @DragonParadox
    Just a reminder, we haven't really seen anything of the Kyton who's opened a shop for bodymods and a lab some time ago on our island.
    If you ever look for interlude-material, that's still hovering around.
     
    [X] Crake
    Artemis1992 said:
    @DragonParadox
    Just a reminder, we haven't really seen anything of the Kyton who's opened a shop for bodymods and a lab some time ago on our island.
    If you ever look for interlude-material, that's still hovering around.
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    @DragonParadox, on the topic of interludes, Zherys still needs to claim his dragon.

    Also has Teana made any progress in binding Grey Ghost?
     
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