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

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I'm just writing a lot because I expect the update to take more than five seconds of dialogue. I am tired of having to scramble around thinking of something interesting to say. The above vote isn't supposed to be an info dump, it's just supposed to be our general intent, and I don't expect nor want @DragonParadox to use everything if it isn't appropriate. He could use as little as two sentences but cannibalize a tiny part of it down further in the vote for entirely original content and I would still be content because I know that my vote informed Viserys on what he wanted to say in order to get his way.

That is why in white, rather than blue, I explain at each point what we are aiming to achieve.
 
Given what we've heard of this Emir, if it's true, I wouldn't be surprised if we outright fail in this encounter. It depends on how badly he takes the news about his daughter.
 
Goldfish said:
Given what we've heard of this Emir, if it's true, I wouldn't be surprised if we outright fail in this encounter. It depends on how badly he takes the news about his daughter.
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Honestly the situation is so stacked against us that I don't see this going our way until someone finds that anvil and proves Kelasi didn't do it.
 
What is our actual objective here? Not the objective of Crake's speech, I mean the objective of meeting the Emir.
 
TalonofAnathrax said:
What is our actual objective here? Not the objective of Crake's speech, I mean the objective of meeting the Emir.
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Kelasi is the chief arms manufacturer for this region of the Plane of Water, IIRC, so having them less focused on Galzerai can only do good things for the ability of the other factions' ability to wage war upon the Deep Ones.

That's of only tangential concern, however, as the real goal would be to bury the proverbial hatchet between Kela and Galzerai. Their conflict inflames the innate distrust many on the Plane have for Brine Dragons and makes it easier for the Deep Ones to keep them from uniting, but it also focuses Galzerai on his own territory and slights, real or perceived, rather than making him available to combat the real enemies. Now that he has proven he is willing to strike at his foe when they are distracted, even if that distraction is fighting the Deep One invasion, it makes other powers, Kelasi included, less likely to leave their own borders undefended for fear of backstabbing Dragons. Ameliorating that issue would be very helpful in the long run.
 
Goldfish said:
Kelasi is the chief arms manufacturer for this region of the Plane of Water, IIRC, so having them less focused on Galzerai can only do good things for the ability of the other factions' ability to wage war upon the Deep Ones.

That's of only tangential concern, however, as the real goal would be to bury the proverbial hatchet between Kela and Galzerai. Their conflict inflames the innate distrust many on the Plane have for Brine Dragons and makes it easier for the Deep Ones to keep them from uniting, but it also focuses Galzerai on his own territory and slights, real or perceived, rather than making him available to combat the real enemies. Now that he has proven he is willing to strike at his foe when they are distracted, even if that distraction is fighting the Deep One invasion, it makes other powers, Kelasi included, less likely to leave their own borders undefended for fear of backstabbing Dragons. Ameliorating that issue would be very helpful in the long run.
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The thing is the very premise of trying to get them less focused on Galzerai is insulting. How would you react if someone told you, for example, if someone kidnapped your dog and was actively holding her hostage, but for the good of the community you shouldn't do everything you could to bring that person to their knees and get your dog back? They could have the most logical arguments in the world and you wouldn't give a shit. I suspect the Emir offered his daughter's hand in marriage out of sheer desperation more than anything else.
 
Duesal said:
The thing is the very premise of trying to get them less focused on Galzerai is insulting. How would you react if someone told you, for example, if someone kidnapped your dog and was actively holding her hostage, but for the good of the community you shouldn't do everything you could to bring that person to their knees and get your dog back? They could have the most logical arguments in the world and you wouldn't give a shit. I suspect the Emir offered his daughter's hand in marriage out of sheer desperation more than anything else.
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I don't think we have much chance of succeeding on that particular front, not yet at least, though it would be helpful. That might be an eventual goal, but it's not something we're actually going to attempt yet. Right now we're just getting our foot in the door, selling the idea of cooperation and trade to the Emir, and seeing how he reacts. From his response, we'll have a much better idea of how feasible it is to invest more of our time in Kelasi.
 
Don't forget to vote, y'all. There are plenty of options of Crake's plan isn't to your liking, including those presented by DP and my original vote.
 
Goldfish said:
Kelasi is the chief arms manufacturer for this region of the Plane of Water, IIRC, so having them less focused on Galzerai can only do good things for the ability of the other factions' ability to wage war upon the Deep Ones.

That's of only tangential concern, however, as the real goal would be to bury the proverbial hatchet between Kela and Galzerai. Their conflict inflames the innate distrust many on the Plane have for Brine Dragons and makes it easier for the Deep Ones to keep them from uniting, but it also focuses Galzerai on his own territory and slights, real or perceived, rather than making him available to combat the real enemies. Now that he has proven he is willing to strike at his foe when they are distracted, even if that distraction is fighting the Deep One invasion, it makes other powers, Kelasi included, less likely to leave their own borders undefended for fear of backstabbing Dragons. Ameliorating that issue would be very helpful in the long run.
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This about sums up the situation. While these two are focused on either trying to threaten or alternatively kill each other, no one is going to send troops anywhere if they think war is going to break out on a larger scale, with other realms taking advantage of momentary weakness. That and there is the fact that there is legitimate concern of dragons actually going so far as to take advantage or start shit if they think it is more profitable than trade. I see the older wyrms as more amenable to the idea than the younger ones, but also more entrenched in their ways and less compromising than, say, Relath.

Which is saying something.
 
[X] Swimming Against Deeper Turmoil
-[X] "Your Highness, while I wish it were glad tidings that brought me to your door step, such is the circumstances we are measured against that instead I come bearing grave news. In searching for allies against the Lords of Madness, I have found instead subterfuge, quite aside from the usual obstacles of diplomacy which I have fared the better." - You speak briefly of your pact with one Emirate and your recent efforts in Vialesk, of which you are certain will bear fruit given all the good will you have earned of late.
-[X] "In point of fact, one agent of theirs had sought to use my caution upon the matter of hostilities between Kelasi and the Wyrm, Galzerai, in order to entangle me in battle with the latter, hoping one would slay the other, a circumstance that we both took quite ill to, indeed. Alas, they are schemers who act through the hands of others, for their understanding of us is scattered." - This is the core of our motive for being here. Time again we have made it clear that our only stake is that we can pursue alternative means for resolution of conflict so that we can focus on our mutual enemy, one who is constantly undermining everyone in some manner or another, of which Kelasi is not immune in the least.
-[X] "Yes, Your Highness, I understand a degree of open wariness toward my intentions for how new the circumstances of our meeting, yet through the simple matters of governance which guide our hands each and every day they could be made clearer. Trade with the Emirates and Dominions would not only be stifled by hostilities between I and the other states, which has made me inclined toward restraint all the more, but the fact that hostilities between any two of the greater powers at hand would cause concern for all of their neighbors, stifle trade, encourage hoarding of resources towards the ephemeral conflicts which might unfold over those which are guaranteed. If I could somehow prevent such conflict from breaking out..." And there is the rub, since we know there is more to the posturing between Galzerai and the Emir than simple pride.
-[X] We are not expecting miracles, or for everyone to go haring off to fight the Deep Ones. We know people around here aren't used to moving quickly, even content to let such conflict simmer beneath the surface and accepting some element of the unknown to underpine all dealings with others. Such is life in an endless ocean. However, when outside elements are introduced, what might be a sort of harmonized chaos can all too quickly be poisoned, and it makes no bones about slaying swiftly either.
-[X] Tell him about the Dragon you slew with company who fell to madness and was twisted in form and mind. We will never know what drove her to the lengths she took, but we know that hardly anyone is beyond being saved from their own folly if they had been given the mere opportunity in the first place.
-[X] You wish to understand the conflict between Kelasi and Galzerai at its heart, to try to see this matter resolved in the best way that is open to you. You are sympathetic toward the Princess' plight, yet you know the vagaries of war and that at the very least they had not been harmed or forced into abandoning their honor. However, it is perhaps easy to see that whereas one with kinder intentions, who might be inclined to keep her honor for the sake of better relations, might be circumspect, it would be all too simple for Galzerai to boast far and wide how refusing to consider other alternatives has likely led to her loss of face.

@Goldfish @TalonofAnathrax Leaving intentions clear, but cutting down some of the speechifying since I'm getting an impression half of it will be moot.
 
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I immensely enjoy the idea that every time Viserys opens his mouth, even in casual conversation, he has a five to ten minute soliloquy already fully formed in his mind. You know that feeling when you think back on a conversation and come up with the perfect argument or comeback long after it will ever be relevant? Viserys has the opposite problem. When relaxing he cannot help but imagine "what if" scenarios where his verbal opponent had been quick witted and adversarial enough to not give in, allowing Viserys to continue his speech.

Also, this conversation probably happened at some point: "I don't understand how Viserys does it! He just pulls these fully formed speeches and arguments out of thin air. Have you ever gone back as read a verbatim transcript of a speech he later admitted to ad libbing? They're all structurally and grammatically consistent, as if he'd written the damn thing!"

No doubt there is a persistent rumor that Viserys abuses temporal manipulation magics to slow/stop time to think mid-conversation.

:p

Anyway...

[X] Crake
 
Massgamer said:
Could we make mimic like The Luggage?
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Azel said:
Mighty + Quickling should do the trick.
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You know, an integral Portable Hole and a Bottle of Air would turn an Inquisition Mimic into an excellent method of transporting prisoners as well as a really effective way to insert a number of agents into an enemy hideout or otherwise difficult to infiltrate area.

No one would expect a small crate of turnips to suddenly open its "mouth" and suddenly disgorge a ten man strike team.
 
Goldfish said:
You know, an integral Portable Hole and a Bottle of Air would turn an Inquisition Mimic into an excellent method of transporting prisoners as well as a really effective way to insert a number of agents into an enemy hideout or otherwise difficult to infiltrate area.

No one would expect a small crate of turnips to suddenly open its "mouth" and suddenly disgorge a ten man strike team.
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Needs the Portable Pit thing though, as the Hole is too small to fit more then one person.
 
Azel said:
Needs the Portable Pit thing though, as the Hole is too small to fit more then one person.
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Standard Portable Holes have an internal cylindrical space which is six feet in diameter and ten feet deep. That's enough room for multiple people, if they don't mind being cramped for a short while.

Without the Bottle of Air, however, or an alternate source of air, a single Medium-sized creature only has ten minutes of breathable air, which is further divided by the number of people inside it.
 
Goldfish said:
Standard Portable Holes have an internal cylindrical space which is six feet in diameter and ten feet deep. That's enough room for multiple people, if they don't mind being cramped for a short while.

Without the Bottle of Air, however, or an alternate source of air, a single Medium-sized creature only has ten minutes of breathable air, which is further divided by the number of people inside it.
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We've got assets that don't need air ...
 
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