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

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Great omake @Crake, I love the Darkstar introspection. It says something about it that Ilias had to practically pry it out of him. Helpful devils all around. She must be feeling nostalgic to be having this conversation and without even seeking to damn someone's soul on top of it.
 
DragonParadox said:
A mole would struggle to dig though stone ruble and collapsed timbers, not to mention it would risk being burred alive as the rubble settled. Something like Xorn movement would have been perfect, but that is a pretty rare and specialized spell.
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Mythic Sorcerer F.L.E.X.X.E.S.

Edit : More seriously, that's why a properly paranoid person always carries scrolls!
 
Crake said:
Twilight Eclipsed
​
Thirteenth Day of the Twelfth Month 293 AC

Staring in mild disbelief above a letter delivered by a Greater Raven just before sunrise that day, Aradia could only shake her head as the flickering of the campfire shone across the faces of the returning Ser Gerold and Ilias, the former sporting a rapidly bruising black eye and the the latter with mildly disheveled hair and a split lip. Pointedly, neither looked at the other and behaved as if everything was as normal, though there was little of the previous tension ever-present whenever they had just gotten into an argument. They had been quarreling over just about any martial matter you could name since their mission had started, and only now did they fill their camp with blessed silence?

"Well he wasn't wrong," Uriah replied, having followed her off to bag a couple of rabbits for the pot allegedly. The two ducked under a low hanging branch. "He was just determined to be an insufferable..."

"Ass, about it?" Uriah paused, as though considering the suggestion carefully, before nodding at her word choice as though supremely satisfied. Aradia tried not to laugh, though it was a losing prospect.

"She was looking for a fight," Uriah said, surprising Aradia as they loosed a pair of arrows which secured their dinner mid-flight. "The Sisterhood you see," she carefully did not smile so as to disguise how amusing she must have found the informal nomenclature the Erinyes had been gifted by some clever Legion captain somewhere, though Aradia knew more than one of the Bateezu had a sense of humor, even if it was usually off-color and private. "We've noticed more than one mortal with skill beyond what is normally exhibited outside of battlefields on the front lines of the War. It is normal, to be curious that is."

"Oh?" Aradia said playfully, eliciting a rolling of the eyes from the fallen. "You lot are a gossip's bane, I tell you," she said with faux regret.

"Hm, perhaps I should tell the Inquisition to make a note of that in our files." Aradia whipped her head toward the devil. Uriah wasn't smiling, there wasn't even a crinkle at the corners of their eyes, but she knew that the fallen was laughing at her.

***​

"All that anger over a sword," Ilias said, almost playfully, though the haughty tone she took wasn't as venomous as an hour ago Gerold noted. "It seems almost childish. Surely that spellsteel blade is just as effective?" Darkstar clenched a hand around the sword of Valyrian Steel at his side, before relaxing, knowing now as he didn't then that she was still deliberately provoking him.

"It's what it represents, more than what it can do," Gerold replied, knowing a sword was about as useful as a stick when not wielded by a true warrior. He was thankful for the blade of dragonsteel, the enchanted armor and the magic talismans, the tomes and philters and other accouterments that some fighter of myth might walk out of a page with, thankful for the trust placed in him by the King, enough that he was feeling some inkling of true loyalty to a cause outside of himself, though he was a cynic at heart.

He knew just as surely that there were stipulations that came alongside that trust. Killing monsters was just one part of that, working with the likes of the frigid bitches another. "Waiting for the right kind of Knight to rise up helped Dorne plenty, eh?" There hasn't been a knight like me, Gerold thought. He wasn't Arthur Dayne.

"But isn't that to your advantage?" Ilias said coldly, staring at him with none of the dark amusement that glittered in her black eyes a moment ago, merely razor-sharp focus. "To not have the expectations of the virtuous hanging over your head." Would Arthur Dayne care about men being murdered on the road by monsters, for all that he had slain bandits at the King's command? Did he even care before he had been ordered to run them to the ground? The Kingswood Brotherhood had operated for years, for all they had ended with the swing of Dawn's milkglass blade.

"If being a hero were easy," Gerold hissed in true anger, the first flush of it that he'd felt talking to this vexing woman, "Then everyone would do it."

"Hm." She tossed her head, glamoured hair a flaxen curtain of pale locks. She scattered a handful of dust into the fire, making shadows flicker and dance to uncertain rhythms. "You claim to see the world for what it is. Heroes chasing glory and songs spinning wheels as if it were not their intent."

"Risk and reward," Ser Gerold replied, staring at the fire. "Men have vices like women and gold, but there are piles of both waiting to be grasped by merchants rubbing their fingers together or any man with a full purse or a ready smile." It's what was out of reach for most that he lusted for most, but recent months had made him more aware of that, what he risked at times greater than his life which was temporal and impermanent. Sometimes one risked their very soul.

Realization struck him just then. "I will never be a mere pawn," he blurted, standing and nearly throwing the words back into her face. "I fight for..." What did he fight for? Months ago he would have said 'himself', as he hadn't met anyone he'd be willing to die for, even if the prospect of death itself was one he was willing to meet as all warriors must be.

She looked at him with an uncharacteristic weariness. "Everyone is a slave to something." Even Ilias realized the flaw in her logic a moment later, scowling, though not at the knight. "Though perhaps some less than others."

He thought long and hard about it, long enough for a skewer of roasted pigeon to be shoved into his hand by the archer spirit, long enough for the fire to nearly die to embers.

"What the Hells am I fighting for?" He whispered. Gerold looked up, startled by the woman's sudden presence.

"For now? The Realm," Ilias replied, almost bashful were she even capable of the slightest hint of shame or embarrassment at the unsolicited commiseration. Gerold himself missed the irony in the words, a Devil speaking of hope offered in a humble cup rather than a poisoned chalice. The 'Realm' indeed could encompass many things, hope for tomorrow, home and even a legacy beyond himself and deeds that might lie forgotten even as mighty giants like Brandon the Builder and Durran Godsgrief only had the monoliths left in their wake to remind men that they existed. If he did not build something and only dealt death, he would be forgotten, too.

Perhaps I should learn magic, Gerold thought. He had thought of all the ways healing and sharper blades could make him a better warrior, but he was not going to live forever that slaughtering murderous fey out in the woods would be recorded in a book as more than a footnote. Men always tended to get the details wrong, as well. I could at least keep reminding others just what I'm capable of.

It was a prospect to at least consider.
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And that's how the Darkstar became a Magus. :cool:

I hope!

Neat omake, dude. For a second there before I realized which Gerold we were seeing, I was wondering what the general of our army was doing out on an adventure. Ilias seems pretty cool, too, though I don't see her becoming a therapist any time soon.
 
DragonParadox said:
Great omake @Crake, I love the Darkstar introspection. It says something about it that Ilias had to practically pry it out of him. Helpful devils all around. She must be feeling nostalgic to be having this conversation and without even seeking to damn someone's soul on top of it.
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It personally offends Ilias for someone that skilled to be such a whiner. She merely wants to help him realize his true potential.
 
I personally hope that he doesn't learn magic, and instead becomes a pure martial (maybe with a few Iron Heart maneuvers thrown in). This is mister "I want to be the best swordsman, and fuck Arthur" guy, and having him cheat with magic would be a shame IMO.
 
Crake said:
She looked at him with an uncharacteristic weariness. "Everyone is a slave to something." Even Ilias realized the flaw in her logic a moment later, scowling, though not at the knight. "Though perhaps some less than others."
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After millenia of following party-line with that saying she suddenly has to switch tracks.
Must be confusing.
 
Vote closed. It's rather late, but these are short parts so I should manage a third part
Adhoc vote count started by DragonParadox on Feb 2, 2020 at 4:12 PM, finished with 29 posts and 7 votes.
  • [X] Viserys casts a Quickened Teleport spell to get himself and Richard well within range of the fleeing mage, then uses Wild Arcana to target him with an Amber Sarcophagus spell. Richard activates his earring to gain True Seeing as Viserys Teleports them, and will warn him if the eagle is an illusion or decoy before he attempts to capture it.
    -[X] Lya activates her Bead of Karma to raise her caster level to 21, then uses a Targeted Greater Dispel Magic spell on the eagle, timed to hit it just after Viserys and Richard arrive nearby.
    -[X] In the meantime, Rina gathers up Raerys into a container while Tyene's group Teleports the insensate Shugenja back to our hiding spot.
    -[X] Still warded by Superior Invisibility and her other spells, Varys scouts out the collapsed townhouse and it's surroundings.
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TalonofAnathrax said:
I personally hope that he doesn't learn magic, and instead becomes a pure martial (maybe with a few Iron Heart maneuvers thrown in). This is mister "I want to be the best swordsman, and fuck Arthur" guy, and having him cheat with magic would be a shame IMO.
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That would be cool, too. Of course, that Martial shit is just sword magic by another name. ;)
 
Goldfish said:
That would be cool, too. Of course, that Martial shit is just sword magic by another name. ;)
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Well Gerold isn't only concerned with getting the job done. He also wants to be special, that's a desire that doesn't just go away all at once. Being a pale imitation of Ser Richard's supernal and dominant skill isn't really what he wants.

OTOH, high-leveled Gishes are still pretty rare.

If we discovered some new Marital Adept classes, he would probably be all over that Path of War exclusive disciplines. That's stuff even Richard can't do.
 
Crake said:
Well Gerold isn't only concerned with getting the job done. He also wants to be special, that's a desire that doesn't just go away all at once. Being a pale imitation of Ser Richard's supernal and dominant skill isn't really what he wants.

OTOH, high-leveled Gishes are still pretty rare.

If we discovered some new Marital Adept classes, he would probably be all over that Path of War exclusive disciplines. That's stuff even Richard can't do.
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It's a shame we don't know how to teach anyone that style used by the Serpentfolk general who was being puppeted by the Oblivion. Swording so hard you cut the Space-Time Continuum is pretty special.
 
With how the wizard turned into an eagle to try and escape, it reninded me how fun wizard duals are when you can transform into the natural predator of the opponent.

Unpractical, but fun.
 
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Adhoc vote count started by Goldfish on Feb 2, 2020 at 4:25 PM, finished with 34 posts and 8 votes.
  • [X] Viserys casts a Quickened Teleport spell to get himself and Richard well within range of the fleeing mage, then uses Wild Arcana to target him with an Amber Sarcophagus spell. Richard activates his earring to gain True Seeing as Viserys Teleports them, and will warn him if the eagle is an illusion or decoy before he attempts to capture it.
    -[X] Lya activates her Bead of Karma to raise her caster level to 21, then uses a Targeted Greater Dispel Magic spell on the eagle, timed to hit it just after Viserys and Richard arrive nearby.
    -[X] In the meantime, Rina gathers up Raerys into a container while Tyene's group Teleports the insensate Shugenja back to our hiding spot.
    -[X] Still warded by Superior Invisibility and her other spells, Varys scouts out the collapsed townhouse and it's surroundings.
Click to expand...
 
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Part MMMCCCXXVI: A Flame Swiftly Burning
  • Threadmarks
    • A Flame Swiftly Burning ​

    Thirteenth Day of the Twelfth Month 293 AC

    You instinctively reach for Ser Richard even as you send a mental request to Tyene to bring the cursed shugenja to safety. For Lya's part in the plan a nod is enough. There are not many spells one could cast over such a long distance without raising uncomfortable questions, but after watching Teana's spell rebound there is one you truly need. Ivory rod raised high you string together three swift syllables in your mind and magic bears you up...

    "Is it...?" you do not need to finish the sentence, Ser Richard already knows what to look for and how.

    "It's no glamour or figment." He confirms.

    Lya's unraveling passes unheard though not unseen through the air, like a shiver of fickle winds, but it does not touch your foe. You feel the familiar dissonance of something like your ring though the bird does not appear to be carrying anything besides the staff. Could it have been that, part of you wonders, but the question is of little import now. Your appearance is not of an Emerald Magistrate, merely the one you had worn when you had rented the room, a petty merchant trading in spice. Thankfully you can cast the spell without gesture or incantation. A shard of amber flashes among the dust and screams.

    The eagle falls, trapped like a fly in amber and this time the staff falls with it, like a spear cast from on high to embed itself in the cobbles, the golden dragons atop it gleaming as though in invitation.

    That was the last of them, unless... you turn to what remains of the townhouse. You do not expect to find many more alive among the rubles, though you have seen more unlikely things. You are about to ask Varys to look through the ruins when Dany calls down among the bond: "The locals are dealing with whatever the Golden Company summoned at the colonel's mansion... I think it might be Xue herself from the way the monsters are being swept aside and the fires extinguished. At least these mages aren't looking for Ning, but that also means they are not divining the cause of all this..."

    "It would be rather inconvenient to be caught here wearing jade robes by Pol Qo's forces," Tyene notes as she picks up the bound mage. No doubt by now his bother has been gathered in some convenient bucket. Should you even take the cursed shugenja with you? The state he is in might constitute proof that Ning and her circle were the victims and not the perpetrators here, and should any witnesses see him vanish alongside Emerald Magistrates Pol Qo might take it as confirmation of his sister's treason. On the other hand if you leave him here helpless and the general's mages decide to err on the side of thoroughness over mercy, his death might yet prove the spark for the conflict the Golden Company was seeking to incite.

    What do you do?

    [] Take the cursed shugenja with you

    [] Leave the cursed shugenja

    [] Write in

    OOC: If you guys want to talk to the locals to sell them a story that is fine too of course, but it's going to be a very hard sell considering that you have people posing as agents of the Azure Emperor.
     
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  • Threadmarks
    • DragonParadox said:
    A Flame Swiftly Burning ​

    Thirteenth Day of the Twelfth Month 293 AC

    You instinctively reach for Ser Richard even as you send a mental request to Tyene to bring the cursed shugenja to safety. For Lya's part in the plan, a nod is enough. There are not many spells one could cast over such a long distance without raising uncomfortable questions, but after watching Teana's spell rebound there is one you truly need. Ivory rod raised high you string together three swift syllables in your mind and magic bears you up...

    "Is it...?" you do not need to finish the sentence, Ser Richard already knows what to look for and how. "It's no glamor or figment."

    Lya's unraveling passes unseen through the air, like a shiver of fickle winds, but it does not touch your foe. You feel the familiar dissonance of something like your ring, though the bird does not appear to be carrying anything besides the staff. Could it have been that, part of you wonders, but the question is of little import now. Your appearance is not of an Emerald Magistrate, merely the one you had worn when you had rented the room, a petty merchant trading in spice. Thankfully, you can cast the spell without gesture or incantation. A shard of amber flashes among the dust and screams.

    The eagle falls, trapped like a fly in amber and this time the staff falls with it, like a spear cast from on high to embed itself in the cobbles, the golden dragons atop it gleaming as though in invitation.

    That was the last of them, unless... you turn to what remains of the townhouse. You do not expect to find many more alive among the rubble, though you have seen more unlikely things. You are about to ask Varys to look through the ruins when Dany used the mind bond to announce, "The locals are dealing with whatever the Golden Company summoned at the colonel's mansion... I think it might be Xue herself, from the way the monsters are being swept aside and the fires extinguished. At least these mages aren't looking for Ning, but that also means they are not divining the cause of all this... "

    "It would be rather inconvenient to be caught here with us wearing jade robes by Pol Qo's forces," Tyene notes as she picks up the bound mage. No doubt by now his bother has been gathered in some convenient bucket. Should you even take the cursed Shugenja with you? The state he is in might constitute proof that Ning and her circle were the victims and not the perpetrators here, and should any witnesses see him vanish alongside Emerald Magistrates Pol Qo might take it as confirmation of his sister's treason. On the other hand, if you leave him here helpless and the general's mages decide to err on the side of thoroughness over mercy, his death might yet prove the spark for the conflict the Golden Company was seeking to incite.

    What do you do?

    [] Take the cursed shugenja with you

    [] Leave the cursed shugenja

    [] Write in

    OOC: If you guys want to talk to the locals to sell them a story that is fine, too, of course, but it's going to be a very hard sell considering that you have people posing as agents of the Azure Emperor.
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    Here's an edited version of the chapter, DP.

    Today's chapters have been great, DP. Fast-paced and action packed. Lots of fun.
     
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    [X] Take the mage for the moment and regroup with Pol Ning to discuss your options, obviously leaving him alone is a bad idea just in case someone wants to come and cover their tracks, but moreover you are not so thoughtless as to sacrifice a life you have already saved unless it would gain you something. Furthermore, it would be easier for her to plead her case if she was carrying evidence of treachery in-hand.
     
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