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

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Artemis1992 said:
[X] Goldfish

Which name?
Blackfire would be truer to heritage, but it's not a name he was given or believes to be his.
Targaryen would be a lie, though one that has shaped him so far that it might count.
Mopatis would be my favorite to try.
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The fairest one in this situation, as in not a random guessing game based on insubstantial and transient hints from a character that it is impractical for us to get a lens into, would be the one most true for all purposes of what they are in essence.

Here's my argument. Mopatis isn't it, because not only does he not identify as such but he would not, and no one would actually guess as much either. Furthermore none of what forms up who Aegon, in essence, is... really is all that influenced by his heritage via Illyrio, but instead by his dragonblooded heritage.

And that comes not from being a Targaryen, who I would point out isn't a credible claim at all, his death was well known and he's surrounded by Abyssal influenced cultists and blackhearts, weighed out by the much more obvious, legitimate and indisputable claim that Viserys maintains. For all practical purposes, at least here in ASWaH, his status as "Aegon Targaryen" is window dressing, a footnote, and maybe more important in JonCon's own character arc here, where it forms the linchpin of his own personal delusion, without which he would fall into despair. He is the only reason I can think of for why it might be maintained.

Aegon's status of as a Blackfyre is totally and entirely relevant due to the almost destined opposition the lineage has with our own, and how it is only due to it that Tiamat was set on his path.

Ergo, his name is Aegon Blackfyre.
 
Crake said:
The fairest one in this situation, as in not a random guessing game based on insubstantial and transient hints from a character that it is impractical for us to get a lens into, would be the one most true for all purposes of what they are in essence.

Here's my argument. Mopatis isn't it, because not only does he not identify as such but he would not, and no one would actually guess as much either. Furthermore none of what forms up who Aegon, in essence, is... really is all that influenced by his heritage via Illyrio, but instead by his dragonblooded heritage.

And that comes not from being a Targaryen, who I would point out isn't a credible claim at all, his death was well known and he's surrounded by Abyssal influenced cultists and blackhearts, weighed out by the much more obvious, legitimate and indisputable claim that Viserys maintains. For all practical purposes, at least here in ASWaH, his status as "Aegon Targaryen" is window dressing, a footnote, and maybe more important in JonCon's own character arc here, where it forms the linchpin of his own personal delusion, without which he would fall into despair. He is the only reason I can think of for why it might be maintained.

Aegon's status of as a Blackfyre is totally and entirely relevant due to the almost destined opposition the lineage has with our own, and how it is only due to it that Tiamat was set on his path.

Ergo, his name is Aegon Blackfyre.
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But he has never seen himself as a Blackfyre, or thought of himself as such.
And none of the people close to him, like Connington or Ashara or Illyrio would call him Blackfyre.

What is more important for a true name?
The inner truth of self-perception or the outer truth, that being a Blackfyre is a defining element of his life?
If it's the former Targ is truer, I guess.
 
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@DragonParadox, will using Psychic Asylum work to allow Viserys' senses to recover, like I outlined below?
Goldfish said:
I think I have a solution to our current sensory handicap. If we cast Psychic Asylum, Viserys can retreat to his own mind to think for up to 15 minutes of mental time during which no time passes in the outside world. During that time, the duration of Mind-Affecting effects which he has been subjected to will continue to count down. Shattered Mirror Strike, which Connington used to mess with our senses, is a Mind-Affecting effect with a duration measured in rounds. It's a pretty neat way to remedy the issue, IMO.

The question is whether we want to take the time to do it.
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Artemis1992 said:
[X] Goldfish

Which name?
Blackfire would be truer to heritage, but it's not a name he was given or believes to be his.
Targaryen would be a lie, though one that has shaped him so far that it might count.
Mopatis would be my favorite to try.
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Lya is smarter and wiser than we're ever going to be, so I'll leave it up to her to make that decision, but I think she'll probably use Aegon Targaryen.

Although it isn't true, it is what Aegon believes, and for the purposes of the spell that's probably what matters most.
 
Goldfish said:
Lya is smarter and wiser than we're ever going to be, so I'll leave it up to her to make that decision, but I think she'll probably use Aegon Targaryen.

Although it isn't true, it is what Aegon believes, and for the purposes of the spell that's probably what matters most.
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Leaving it to her is the best idea, but I personally think it's going to be the other way around. The outer name seems like it should matter more if the nature of names in magic is meant to be reflective of what they are in real life.

A name is the first thing you are given in life, and you largely have no control over it. It follows you wherever you go, and ties you back to your origin. Even if you reject and replace it later, many people (and legal documents) will still require that information or consider it to be your real name depending on how you changed it.

If any of those properties are preserved in DND's name magic, then Blackfyre would make the most sense because it's the name his mother had to give him even if it wasn't exactly what his father wanted. Even if you lie to yourself enough to believe it the world doesn't necessarily need to agree, or particularly care.
 
The crazy demon said:
Wait, werent we flying on Balerion's back?

I remember Balerion the DumbDragon being mentioned when Malarys used a Sacramental Seal
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We sent him away from the Avatar of Tiamat along with the Mind Dragon who was accompanying us. Without Viserys or Varys there to guide him, the most he's probably good for is defending himself, but there are enough Mind Dragons around that they should be able to Telepathically direct him a bit and there will be plenty of recognizable allies. He's dumb by most standards, but that's still no worse than a normal dog, and he's been well trained.
 
DragonParadox said:
On another note since no one seemed to be upset at the non-sequitur the last time here's an interesting fanfic I just finished (it is actually complete for a wonder):

Things in Common

It's a Harry Potter AU with the PoD of Ginny Weaselly being resentful of her family's poverty her father's job and thus his obsession with Muggles. Thankfully for her there's another person more than willing to commiserate with her over both points... his name is Tom and he lives in a diary.

This is to me one of those rare fics that manages to have a villain protagonist without either constantly making excuses or making them so vile and unlikable that they turn into a caricature. Everyone is IC and consistent and one can never be quite sure how things are going to work out until the end. I have to admit a bit of a personal bias for Diary Tom Riddle. I've always found him the most compelling vilain in the whole series because he is so insidious as opposed to No Nose McSnake Pants. If only his plan was not to release a giant snake in a school.
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Thanks for the rec. I actually read all of it, and have to say that it was hella weird. It alternated between really good and really bad so fast and so often that I got whiplash. I couldn't settle on any sort of rating out of ten, as I'm hesitating between 7/10 and 3/10 every few lines. The author is really good at some things (good take on an anti-hero protagonist, etc), and doesn't give a damn about some others (the pureblood politics making any sense at all, for example, or Ginny making friends with the 2nd-year boys crazily easily as early as first year). And I would have appreciated more warning for the AU elements.
Still, it's nice to see a complete fic every so often!

I appreciate recs, feel free to keep them coming.
 
Crake said:
Harry Potter politics don't make any sense in canon!
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Honestly my favorite part of Harry Potter politics is seeing raging leftists rant about how the entire series is neoliberal centrist propaganda, not because it actually explicitly fights for centrism in any way, but because Harry's "revolution" and politics are so utterly badly organised/written that people interpret the series as a manifesto against activism of any sort.

You know, I wish we'd had a few chapters of HP where he struggles with the practical difficulties of creating a mass movement, of setting up the free radio station, etc. Or just a few "so what's your tax policy?" decisions, where Harry has to make decisions that would show his actual values. We've had good ones in this quest, especially when we hold court. Why couldn't HP have some of that?

But in this particular case, the fanfic goes with "tying Ginny to the Malfoys is important for some reason" without every saying why. I assume the answer is "prestige", but in that case the amount of effort and social capital the Malfoys are spending seems rather disproportionate...
 
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TalonofAnathrax said:
Thanks for the rec. I actually read all of it, and have to say that it was hella weird. It alternated between really good and really bad so fast and so often that I got whiplash. I couldn't settle on any sort of rating out of ten, as I'm hesitating between 7/10 and 3/10 every few lines. The author is really good at some things (good take on an anti-hero protagonist, etc), and doesn't give a damn about some others (the pureblood politics making any sense at all, for example, or Ginny making friends with the 2nd-year boys crazily easily as early as first year). And I would have appreciated more warning for the AU elements.
Still, it's nice to see a complete fic every so often!

I appreciate recs, feel free to keep them coming.
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For the making friends part, I think one can chalk it up to having Tom Riddle whispering in her ear. I'm betting he could entrance a bunch of 12 year olds even at once-remove, it feds into the notion of why she did not make friends with the girls, because Riddle had never played those games. The pure blood politics yeah, that could have done with being better explored

And now back to our regularly scheduled dragon fighting

Vote closed.
Adhoc vote count started by DragonParadox on Feb 12, 2020 at 9:29 AM, finished with 112 posts and 19 votes.
  • [X] Plan "Where's the Worm when you need it?"
    -[X] Viserys duplicates a Psychic Asylum spell as a Swift Action. During the following 15 minutes of peace within his own mind while he waits for the effects of Connington's last strike to fade, he formulates the most succinct but still polite message to share with the Kami who contacted him, one which asks only for their aid in blunting the Avatar's power and preventing her from Calling or Summoning additional aid. When the spell ends, he passes the message on to the Kami while Silently casting whatever spell seems most appropriate for the situation, either to attack the Avatar, aid Nirah, etc.
    -[X] A fully buffed Nirah (Divine Power, Righteous Might, Invoke Deity, Ironskin, Shield of Faith, etc) attacks the Avatar of Tiamat to the best of his ability.
    -[X] Lya uses Wild Arcana to target Aegon with a Trap the Soul spell. She speaks his name in the casting to increase the Will save DC to 30. If necessary to protect the group from Tiamat's Avatar, she uses Celerity in addition to Wild Arcana to cast a Wall of Mithral spell or some other defensive spell.
    -[X] Dany uses Alter Fortune to assist Lya, if necessary, and expends her Battlemagic Perception buff to Counterspell any enemy spells as a Free Action. If Aegon isn't capture by Lya, despite her assistance, she targets him with a Lucent Lance spell. Otherwise, she aids Nirah however seems most appropriate; either via an attack spell such as Destruction or Lucent Lance or a support spell such as a Reached Heal.
    -[X] Teana uses Greater Shadow Enchantment to cast a Grand Destiny spell on Nirah if Aegon has been captured, but it not she targets Aegon with a Baleful Shadow Transformation. She uses her Ring of Spell-Battle to Counterspell any enemy spells as an Immediate Action.
    -[X] Sandor moves to engage Aegon, if necessary, otherwise he protects Dany to the best of his ability.
    -[X] Richard interposes himself between Viserys and the Avatar. He designates the Avatar as his Chosen Foe (for his Foe Breaker Ring) as a Free Action and activates his Sudden Block Mythic ability as an Immediate Action if necessary to protect himself or Viserys from it, counter attacks using the free melee attack the ability grants him, retaliates with a Full Attack Action, then uses all three charges from his Belt of Battle to gain another Full Round Action in order to use his Avalanche of Blades maneuver.
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