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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 MMMDXLI: From the Mouths of Fiends
  • Threadmarks
    • From the Mouths of Fiends ​

    Twenty Fifth Day of the First Month 294 AC

    Though you offer no bid for the grimoire you could not say you keep your peace, not when your gaze shifts constantly from the pillars and the paroling constructs to your fellow buyers. Would the angel outbid the others again this time? He certainly seems no less interested in the lore of Al'Azir than anything else on offer. Given the state of Nirvana that is hardly surprising, still strange to see him match the envoy of Hell's Treasurer offer for offer. This time however the watcher does not have the final word. Instead the crimson-robbed shugenja reaches out with one clawed hand to claim the book in exchange for the equivalent of a hundred and six thousand imperial marks.

    You are curious to see what coin they pay in, intrigued and not a little wary of what use they might put the lore within to. You can think of innocuous uses of course, but also some far less so. It is a perilous thing to meddle in the powers of the Far Realm, more so perhaps than even the darkest corners of Hell. You shake the thought away. Mikael Abdul-Hassan is not here to enforce any law or principle, merely a scholar of lore strange and precious indulging in his interests, hopefully in peace.

    So far at least that seemed to be the case. The constructs continue paroling, occasionally stopping, as though to listen for something, though you realize watching them that it is no mundane sound they are seeking but rather vibrations through the stone, such as some of the dwellers of the Deep Earth could muster.

    "Impressive," you note to the astronomer, knowing that too much silence would mark you out as much as too many words.

    "What?" she asks.

    You explain what you had guessed about the golems' senses, something a sorcerer of the Opaline Vault would be more familiar with than most.

    "Do you think they have this power beyond the temple or is it bound to the wards of this place somehow?" Kimu is obviously intrigued at the prospect, her interest shifting like quicksilver on glass. "I wonder if the auctioneer would sell one of them off, or if they're too concerned for the advantage it might give thieves considering..."

    "Considering?" you prompt, but before she can answer Eschyr is speaking again, presenting his next piece.

    The tome now twisting in midair above their still open mouth is large and square, about a foot to the side and thick enough that its contents would fit a dozen lesser volumes and more. "Ho, ho," they chuckles, managing the sound better than the throat clearing earlier, likely because they had practiced it. "You would not think the humble cacodaemon would be worth this much writing would you? Then you would be wrong. Can anything else can trap souls as cheaply and easily as they? Of course not, slippery things souls are. But you can't trust daemons either. They'll bit out their own tongue and choke on it as long as it hurts someone else more. In here are the project notes for how that soul crystallization works inside the daemons. You could use it to craft rituals, you could use it to shape flesh and then here you go, easy soul stones."

    "A great many powers have been attempting to replicate that particular ability for ages uncounted," the envoy of Mammon asks archly. "What makes you believe it holds the secret?"

    "Well now, as to that you'll have to take a look inside, after you buy it of course," the mimic winks, or at least briefly closes one out of every two eyes.

    Fourth Piece on Offer: Tome of Cacodaemon Anatomy: Notes on soul crystallization (Opens research paths to bind or crystallize a soul into a material matrix, +5 to all relevant knowledge and spellcraft rolls)

    Asking Price: 50,000 IM

    Do you bid for it?

    [] Yes
    -[] How high

    [] No, observe the other participants and perhaps the mysterious guest for now

    OOC: The devil is being a bit facetious about no one being able to imitate a cacodaemon's soul-bind. All major factions that trade in souls can do it well enough for practical purposes, but none are quite as convenient or cheap.
     
    Last edited:
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    • DragonParadox said:
    Fourth Piece on Offer: Tome of Cacodaemon Anatomy with notes on soul crystallization (Opens research paths to bind or crystallize a soul into a material matrix +5 to all relevant knowledge and spellcraft rolls)

    Asking Price: 50,000 IM
    Click to expand...
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    I wish we could reasonably get everything. This has application in so many of our projects.

    Enough to express interest, but almost definitely going to be outbid.
     
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    Duesal said:
    I wish we could reasonably get everything. This has application in so many of our projects.
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    Important enough to pay for, or can we make a relatively equal parity version ourselves with enough research?

    From what DP has said the method isn't unknown, it's just never been done so cheaply as the tome claims to have accomplished.
     
    [X] No, observe the other participants and perhaps the mysterious guest for now

    We aren't really into soul-binding of the sort, and likely never will be IC.
    See Efeeti coining, which is essentially same principles.

    At worst, we sacrifice them to Yss, which is arguably still better sort of fate than the shit Devils, Daemons and Efreeti (let alone Others) seem to have been pulling for a while.
     
    Evaunit02mark1 said:
    Important enough to pay for, or can we make a relatively equal parity version ourselves with enough research?

    From what DP has said the method isn't unknown, it's just never been done so cheaply as the tome claims to have accomplished.
    Click to expand...
    Click to shrink...
    We can probably achieve the same lore by ganking a ranking Daemon loremaster (@DragonParadox, what would a Daemon equivalent to an Uniila be?) and bookifying them. It's just nice to have said lore neat and compact, so the one in front of us is tempting. But we should keep our eye on the prize as @egoo keeps reminding us.
    egoo said:
    [X] No, observe the other participants and perhaps the mysterious guest for now

    We aren't really into soul-binding of the sort, and likely never will be IC.
    See Efeeti coining, which is essentially same principles.

    At worst, we sacrifice them to Yss, which is arguably still better sort of fate than the shit Devils, Daemons and Efreeti (let alone Others) seem to have been pulling for a while.
    Click to expand...
    Click to shrink...
    @egoo, I think we should show our interest and bid here. We're definitely losing the bid if we keep it this low, and this does more to keep us under the radar than clutching our purse will. Same reasoning for making casual conversation with the astronomer rather than staying silent.
     
    DragonParadox said:
    From the Mouths of Fiends ​

    Twenty Fifth Day of the First Month 294 AC

    Although you offer no bid for the grimoire, you could not say you keep your peace, not when your gaze shifts constantly from the pillars and the patrolling constructs to your fellow buyers. Would the angel outbid the others again this time. He certainly seems no less interested in the lore of Al'Azir than anything else on offer. Given the state of Nirvana, that is hardly surprising, though still strange to see him match the envoy of Hell's Treasurer offer for offer. This time, however, the watcher does not have the final word. Instead, the crimson-robbed shugenja reaches out with one clawed hand to claim the book in exchange for the equivalent of a hundred and six thousand imperial marks.

    You are curious to see what he pays such coin for, intrigued and not a little wary to what use he might put the lore held within. You can think of innocuous uses, of course, but also some far less so. It is a perilous thing to meddle in the powers of the Far Realm, more so perhaps than even the darkest corners of Hell. You shake the thought away. Mikael Abdul-Hassan is not here to enforce any law or principle, merely a scholar of lore strange and precious, indulging his efforts, hopefully in peace.

    That seemed to be the case, at least so far. The constructs continue patrolling, occasionally stopping, as though to listen for something, though you realize watching them that it is no mundane sound they are seeking, but rather vibrations through the stone, such as some of the dwellers of the Deep Earth could muster.

    "Impressive," you note to the astronomer, knowing that too much silence would mark you out as much as too many words.

    "What?" she asks.

    You explain what you had guessed about the golems' senses, something a sorcerer of the Opaline Vault would be more familiar with than most.

    "Do you think they have this power beyond the temple or is it bound to the wards of this place somehow?" Kimu is obviously intrigued at the prospect, her interest shifting like quicksilver on glass. "I wonder if he would sell one of them off or if he's too concerned for the advantage it might give thieves considering."

    "Considering?" you prompt, but before she can answer Eschyr is speaking again, presenting his next piece

    The tome now twisting in mid air above his still open mouth is large and square, about a foot to the side, and thick enough that its contents would fit a dozen lesser volumes and more. "Ho, ho," he chuckles, managing the sound better than the throat clearing earlier, likely because he had practiced it. "You would not think the humble Cacodaemon would be worth this much writing would you? Then you would be wrong! Nothing else that can trap souls that cheap and easy, eh? Of course not, slippery things, souls. But you can't trust daemons either. They'll bite out their own tongue and choke on it as long as it hurts someone else more. In here are the project notes for how that soul crystallization works inside the daemon. You could use it to craft rituals, you could use it to shape flesh and then here you go, easy soul stones."

    "A great many powers have been attempting to replicate that particular ability for ages uncounted," the envoy of Mammon asks archly. "What makes you believe it holds the secret?"

    "Well now, as to that you'll have to take a look inside after you buy it, of course," the mimic winks, or at least briefly closes one out of every two eyes.

    Fourth Piece on Offer: Tome of Cacodaemon Anatomy with notes on soul crystallization (Opens research paths to bind or crystallize a soul into a material matrix and provides a +5 bonus to all relevant knowledge and spellcraft rolls)

    Asking Price: 50,000 IM

    Do you bid for it?

    [] Yes
    -[] How high

    [] No, observe the other participants and perhaps the mysterious guest for now

    OOC: The devil is being a bit facetious about no one being able to imitate a cacodaemon's soul-bind. All major factions that trade in souls can do it well enough for practical purposes, but none are quite as convenient or cheap. Not yet edited.
    Click to expand...
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    Here's an edited version of the chapter, DP.
     
    [X] Absently push the bid up to 75,000 IM, and again up to 100,000 IM if the next bid does not match or exceed that amount, but otherwise mostly continue observing the other participants and the mystery guest.
     
    Duesal said:
    We can probably achieve the same lore by ganking a ranking Daemon loremaster (@DragonParadox, what would a Daemon equivalent to an Uniila be?) and bookifying them. It's just nice to have said lore neat and compact, so the one in front of us is tempting. But we should keep our eye on the prize as @egoo keeps reminding us.

    @egoo, I think we should show our interest and bid here. We're definitely losing the bid if we keep it this low, and this does more to keep us under the radar than clutching our purse will. Same reasoning for making casual conversation with the astronomer rather than staying silent.
    Click to expand...
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    Eh, I guess...

    [X] Crake
    Crake said:
    [X] Absently push the bid up to 75,000 IM, and again up to 100,000 IM if the next bid does not match or exceed that amount, but otherwise mostly continue observing the other participants and the mystery guest.
    Click to expand...
    Click to shrink...
    I just really we don't come off as someone spending such amounts mindlessly, here.
    I mean, dice is dice, others may decide not to match at all.
     
    I wish we could afford to go higher on this one. Not that we couldn't afford it monetarily, but this isn't the kind of research I think our cover identity would covet to any great degree, not a citizen of the Opaline Vault and likely former slave. If conflict spontaneously breaks out here, it's hard to know who we can trust, but we have a better chance of the Astronomer and the Angel allying with us, at least temporarily, if we don't seem too interested in streamlining the process of binding souls into gems.
     
    egoo said:
    Eh, I guess...

    [X] Crake

    I just really we don't come off as someone spending such amounts mindlessly, here.
    I mean, dice is dice, others may decide not to match at all.
    Click to expand...
    Click to shrink...
    The lore is very useful still. If no one wants it, I do. If someone intends to have it, I want them to pay more than 100,000 for it for sure. It might knock out one of the bidders.
     
    [X] Absently push the bid up to 75,000 IM, and again up to 100,000 IM if the next bid does not match or exceed that amount, but otherwise mostly continue observing the other participants and the mystery guest.

    Well, time to drain the purses. (of others hopefully)
     
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