If we tell him we're putting a guy there to help with any exceptional problems that may come up, in our name and as part of our duty as his liege to provide protection against such hazards, then not letting that guy do his job is an insult to us.
A Sword Without a Hilt: A Song of Ice and Fire/D&D 3.5 Crossover
- Thread starter DragonParadox
- Start date
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- Tags
- a song of ice and fire a sword without a hilt d&d 3.5 dungeons & dragons 100% high octane dragon fuel ave corvidae battle action dragon diplomacy best sister bureaucromancy delicious soul-stuff dragon dreams come true dragon ta'veren greatest uncle hubris is a coward's word in defiance of gods and men mammon's folly mutually assured mage's disjunction qm murderhobo top tier coatl
Crake
I AM THE STORM THAT IS APPROACHING
- Location
- USA
[X] Cutting to the Heart
-[X] "My Lord, consider this... you aren't alone in this. Every single Lord and Lady in the Seven Kingdoms, and beyond it everyone I have worked to prepare for the tumult that magic's awakening would follow, has to contend with such threats, yet the message I have repeated to them is one by which we could all stand firm under. 'You are not alone'. That might seem trite and simple, but it isn't, it's the lever by which the world turns, that we are surrounded by things which wish us harm but we are also made strong by the collective work we have all put into safeguarding the world, from the very smallest acts of the loyal armsmen pursuing strangers in the dark with nothing but hearsay and tall tales to be their watchword, to the miller delivering the fruits of his craft in tax revenues unto his lord's keeping."
--[X] "There is a darkness in this land, not of the heart or mind but a real darkness. You know it as well as I do. And the world is not as it once was, nor will it ever be again. These are things that keep to that darkness, knowledge, secret and figment that can turn real in an instant and damn or slay a man, or worse. And for all of that, it isn't enough. We are winning in the East, slowly, steadily, with sure tread, and we are winning here. But it takes more than open scorn for stranger things for it to work. If we ignore the threats we face, mock them and disparage them, the people that trust us, the commons and the knights, the highborn and their vassals, they will do the same."
---[X] "Such... simple comforts are nothing more than a temporary balm on deeper, hidden ills. They will tear and bleed away at us like a canker. I cannot deal with all of these threats on my own, though I have been making good progress, and I don't expect anyone else to either. That would be ridiculous, it is why I have been making resources and counsel available to all who seek it, as a King should, but it is also why I have been standing at the forefront of such exchanges."
----[X] "More than a simple pledge, I have asked for trust. I hope to gain some measure of trust from you, my Lord, by the time this day is over. Let me seek out the source of what stymied you before. I will show you how I did it, and the reasonings for my actions. Nothing more I ask." And if he learns more of how to do it himself, all the better.
-[X] "My Lord, consider this... you aren't alone in this. Every single Lord and Lady in the Seven Kingdoms, and beyond it everyone I have worked to prepare for the tumult that magic's awakening would follow, has to contend with such threats, yet the message I have repeated to them is one by which we could all stand firm under. 'You are not alone'. That might seem trite and simple, but it isn't, it's the lever by which the world turns, that we are surrounded by things which wish us harm but we are also made strong by the collective work we have all put into safeguarding the world, from the very smallest acts of the loyal armsmen pursuing strangers in the dark with nothing but hearsay and tall tales to be their watchword, to the miller delivering the fruits of his craft in tax revenues unto his lord's keeping."
--[X] "There is a darkness in this land, not of the heart or mind but a real darkness. You know it as well as I do. And the world is not as it once was, nor will it ever be again. These are things that keep to that darkness, knowledge, secret and figment that can turn real in an instant and damn or slay a man, or worse. And for all of that, it isn't enough. We are winning in the East, slowly, steadily, with sure tread, and we are winning here. But it takes more than open scorn for stranger things for it to work. If we ignore the threats we face, mock them and disparage them, the people that trust us, the commons and the knights, the highborn and their vassals, they will do the same."
---[X] "Such... simple comforts are nothing more than a temporary balm on deeper, hidden ills. They will tear and bleed away at us like a canker. I cannot deal with all of these threats on my own, though I have been making good progress, and I don't expect anyone else to either. That would be ridiculous, it is why I have been making resources and counsel available to all who seek it, as a King should, but it is also why I have been standing at the forefront of such exchanges."
----[X] "More than a simple pledge, I have asked for trust. I hope to gain some measure of trust from you, my Lord, by the time this day is over. Let me seek out the source of what stymied you before. I will show you how I did it, and the reasonings for my actions. Nothing more I ask." And if he learns more of how to do it himself, all the better.
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- Location
- Germany
A single fresh absolvent won't help here, I think.
The main task would be to advise the lord, which is useless in this case.
A student could not actually do much if the Deep Ones or hostile Fey acted in any serious manner here, and as an early warning divinations are near as good and don't risk a mage's life.
Goldfish
Friendly Spider-Fish Abomination
- Location
- Formerly of the Far Realm
- Location
- florida
And they are greatly hated for that.
To be fair to the fey, they probably thought they did. The fey can't really lie, and the twisty stuff they do to get around that is with precision in exactly what they say. That same thing bleeds into all of their communication, so when they asked for pure white wool they meant exactly that and probably assumed the miller got that it needed to be that specific thing and nothing else.
The miller's wife probably didn't even get that much blood on it, and might have even cut that part out of the batch and thought it fine. For the fey and fey magics though, the fact that it was part of the same batch could be enough to make it explode in someone's face.
egoo
Totally Not Creating Problems Where None Existed
- Location
- Russia
[X] Artemis1992
Chaos, Chaos!
Chaos, Chaos!
Would this be a good time to pitch an Inquisition outpost to him? Sure we don't need the guy, but having the lord on side makes it so much easier, and he only really has to know about a few of the agents. He gets his advice, we get a solid place to run part of our reach operations from, and the agents are numerous enough to defend each other without requiring us to station a high level PC out here.
enigma1995
Gentleman Beholder
[X] Crake
- Location
- Texas
- Pronouns
- He/Him
[X] Crake
Andy0915
I should write something clever here but...effort.
- Location
- Planet Earth
[X] Crake
Do we have enough glue to put this particular Humpty Dumpty back together should his sanity have a great fall?
This lord sounds like he is in denial about the changes that have happened to the world with the return of magic.
Do we have enough glue to put this particular Humpty Dumpty back together should his sanity have a great fall?
This lord sounds like he is in denial about the changes that have happened to the world with the return of magic.
Evaunit02mark1
S-s-smell the Prey, S-s-start the Hunt.
Ookay, might be time for the old boy to retire. Like now.
Last thing we need is someone this, fragile, in a position of power. World's going to shit Granpa, either grab a shovel or get out the way cause some of us have been cleaning it up since this whole mess started.
Goldfish
Friendly Spider-Fish Abomination
- Location
- Formerly of the Far Realm
An Inquisition substation in the area might not be a bad idea.
In a round about way, this is a good thing. Our casus belli for reconquering the Seven Kingdoms is Robert's incompetence in the face of a changing world has made him unfit to rule. Not just unfit, a failure so great that he is a danger to his own people greater than even the Mad King who would have burned all of King's Landing and all of its people as final act of spite. It would unreasonable for every last Lord and Lady to swiftly take action and successfully secure protections for their people. They lack the support, and that is where we come in.
[X] Crake
[X] Crake
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tarrangar
Fat arctic chicken
Robert is not nearly so unfit as Aerys was, the difficulty of being a good king has just been raised, Aerys would have made even more of a mess of things than Robert has.
Crake
I AM THE STORM THAT IS APPROACHING
- Location
- USA
Well, that by law of succession, it's not his throne, is Casus Belli enough. After that, it's no longer a question of quibbling about legitimacy. Once you fight through everyone between you and it, once you have consolidated your gains, it is a matter of who supports you, what benefits they get out of doing so, or conversely, opposing you.
The thing that Stannis spent too long doing in canon was being irate that the Lords would not heed him or swear fealty to him without some tangible benefit toward doing so, or an incentive to oppose their rivals to accompany it (they do).
Robb assumes that people will not act of their own initiative and self interest if he wastes time doing things that don't actively benefit them or acts in ways that bleed away support, supposing perhaps that he can't be beaten on the field when most who would become an enemy are perfectly happy to kill you when your back is turned or when you're least suspecting (they will).
Tywin thinks reputation is all you need to keep our grip on power, fear of retribution will keep people from trying to kill you (it doesn't).
Hoster thought that creating ties between the people who are in power presently would secure his House's future (it didn't).
Robert thinks you can smash anything that threatens you until it doesn't any longer (he can't).
Mace thought he could wait everyone out until an opportunity presented itself to take power for his House and solve the question of who's in charge by marriage (who could? Even in canon? The Dance proved expected succession is a shaky rock to build an empire on).
Not even going to explain Balon's thought process (simple answer: He didn't think).
Doran for example is the closest to realizing the truth that we realized, he's not perfect but for his respective position? One where no advantages exist? He understood that:
No one knows jackshit about what they are doing. That's the secret of the Game of Thrones. Everyone has assumptions and they are all wrong.
The only reason to rule is your own. The only right you have is what right people believe you possess. There are a million ways to convince people you have that right. If enough people don't agree, then they will all act to take it from you. Making an assumption that you will win based on what you suppose should work is not the same as knowing you will win based on the facts of the situation, knowing the motives of other people, and then attempting to convince them that your goals aren't mutually exclusive. If you do this enough times, it doesn't matter if you don't get everyone to agree that you should be in charge, they will only act when they believe they have an advantage, just as you would against them, or conversely, act to create an advantage where none exist.
Vote closed.
- Location
- France
The least he can do is pay for it himself. I have zero sympathy for this waste of space. You take tax money from the people, and then you dramatically fuck up your main job and actual source of legitimacy?
Crake
I AM THE STORM THAT IS APPROACHING
- Location
- USA
It's important to teach someone that you can either learn that you aren't helpless, that you can use your resources to take action so long as you seek out either the aid you require, or the tools you need, in order to accomplish your goals and fulfill your duties... or teach him how to step aside and put someone in charge of that who can. It makes little difference, we will accomplish what we set out to do regardless.
- Location
- France
I know that it's dumb and all, but I do like thinking of this line when we have to Diplomance an NPC I really don't like.
Or when I reread our first visit to the Tyroshi slave markets.
Crake
I AM THE STORM THAT IS APPROACHING
- Location
- USA
If it makes you feel better, we have gone a long way to ending the slave trade and gone further by making the lives of former slaves one worth living, which holds more meaning of its own than the former in a really huge way.
I personally find it funny how we've helped so many people in Essos, and people we deal with in Westeros have largely found it irrelevant (both the people in power, as well as the common people like peasants or even burghers). It means literally nothing to them, and all but the outcasts of the Faith like that one Septon in Harroway Town, simply because we are Viserys Targaryen. Dread Sorcerer supreme.
The very line you bold, is actually what makes diplomacy in Westeros so teeth grinding, and yet we would not be in a position to even do so were it not for that same power. It's the biggest contradiction of circumstance in the quest and I find it endlessly amusing.