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

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Adhoc vote count started by DragonParadox on Aug 21, 2020 at 2:53 PM, finished with 67 posts and 11 votes.
  • [X] Dragon Vanish!
    -[X] Viserys uses Freezing Glance against the Judgement Devil as a Free Action, commands his Summoned Demons to physically harass those Devils nearest to them, then uses a Swift Action to cast a Maximized Time Stop spell. Once Time Stopped, he'll Blood Wish a Psychic Asylum spell to give himself 15 minutes to mentally review the area and determine where the Apostasy Devil must be hidden in order to have attacked Teana. Once the Psychic Asylum ends, he'll use the remaining duration of Time Stop to confirm his findings.
    --[X] When Time Stop ends, Viserys will Telepathically communicate his findings then move to engage the Apostasy Devil. If it cannot be located in this manner, we will instead regroup and determine how to proceed.
    -[X] Dany moves to cast a Heal spell on Teana. She Counterspells as needed using Divine Defiance, or her Battlemagic Perception buff and Ring of Spell-Battle if they have not yet been expended.
    -[X] Garin once more launches a double salvo of Darkbolt spells, the first Quickened and the second Maximized, all targeting the surviving Devils.
    -[X] Mereth attacks the surviving Erinyes, then switches focus to the Judgement Devil.
    -[X] Richard joins Viserys in seeking out the Apostasy Devil and the Seeker moves to join up with Dany.
    -[X] Benerro moves to rejoin the group and casts a Targeted Greater Dispel Magic on himself to specifically remove the Dimensional Anchor effect.
    -[X] Teana moves to rejoin the group and casts a Targeted Greater Dispel Magic on herself to specifically remove the Dimensional Anchor effect. If anything tries to attack her after that before she can receive healing, she uses Celerity to Teleport to safety, unless it is the Apostasy Devil, in which case she uses Amber Sarcophagus to attempt to capture it.
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Part MMMDCXVII: Devils' Denouncement
  • Threadmarks
    • Devils' Denouncement ​

    Twenty Sixth Day of the Second Month 294 AC

    Eyes still held upon the last remaining ashmede you try to bend the devil to your will, to sow fear of the dark and the cold in a soul of iron and hellfire, for a moment his gaze wavers then he steadies once more, the words of oaths older than all the kingdoms of men upon his lips. You might almost admire the loyalty if it weren't so bloody inconvenient. You need to end this, fast, cut off the head and the body will wither.

    Time slows again, this time in mind as much as in truth, less than half a minute expanded thirty. Time enough to think, time enough to plan, and time enough to look out among the crumbling pyramids of Astapor for the foe who but for Teana's own shadow magics might have killed or from the position of the remaining erinyes, captured her.

    Alas that there is no easy answer to be seen from high above, no foe crouching conveniently behind a statue. The deimavigga must be using a Myrish Eye to aim its blows, or more likely a device more complex than anything that had ever passed through the hands of Myr's craftsmen. For a long moment you glare at the place the hellforged spear had emerged from empty air, but there is no connection there to make use of, like Teana's seeming it was gone beyond recall.

    Looking around at the frozen living tableau casting long shadows over fallen grotesqueness, bodies slowly dripping ichor that stained the crimson stone black, you have little doubt what the infernal commander will order now that his gambit has failed.

    Time lurches to a start and to the all too real shrieks of conjured demons the remaining devils withdraw, adding to the scent of brimstone and rot that hangs over the deserted pyramid. Mereth is just quick enough to pin another erinyes in the calf allowing Ser Richard and the Seeker to kill her before she can center her mind, but before any of the others can ready spell or sword it is over, you have won.

    The prize of winning is not small, five erinyes and eight bone devils dead, two more of the Sisters of Battle and one judgement devil, fingers upon the very hand of Asmodeus, captured.

    Yet as your weary company sets down and Teana is healed from near death a second time in the span of moments you quickly realize there is a choice to make here. Do you delay the attacks on the Unsullied 'forge' until you can obtain information from your prisoners and verify it with divination, or count instead upon momentum to carry the day?

    Dany and Teana argue for the former. "Hard enough to fight with a devil in his own lair without dealing with one that can shove his spear right out of a wall you were leaning on a moment ago. Better to give them all the tools they need."

    As you had half expected Garin is on the other of the conversation. "They have tools aplenty, but if we make use of information from the prisoners to plan the assault we may as well be admitting to being part of this skirmish. I don't know about you but I didn't glamour myself up like a villain in mirror play on a lark."

    "Surely the writers have come up with something more creative than that these days," Benerro interjects with a small smile pulling at the marks upon his face. Gone is the instrument of R'hllor's wrath, leaving behind the priest who cares firstly for his flock and his fellows. Inevitably he comes out against Garin's position. "Prisoners are hardly the only place an infiltration party could learn more of where they must strike. With the chaos we have wrought and that which we have yet to work it could even be that the devils will believe us opportunists, taking advantage of the seeking revival of the Sons of the Harpy."

    What do you do next?

    [] Continue on with the initial plan of trying to draw internal assets away from the sanctum below the Plaza of Punishment

    [] Delay the operations until you can interrogate your prisoners and check the information

    [] Write in

    OOC: Unlike many of the enemies you have fought in the past the servants of Asmodeus know when to withdraw, and 'when you have lost more than half your number' is such a moment.
     
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    • @DragonParadox @Goldfish The big question I have is can we use Inspired Spell and Wild Arcana (which cut down on casting time) from Dany and Viserys to quickly go through the interrogations? I think it would take longer to shuffle assets around than a couple hours it takes us to go through all of our questions and considering what's immediately useful for each team, as opposed to a full day to make their excuses for the failure and call down help from one of the other cities so that they can save some face with a victory.

    We know what they currently have access to, letting them change their team composition in the middle of a match isn't good for us. If we can't speed our mind and body probing up, act now, betting that they can't bring in too much we don't already know about.
     
    Crake said:
    @DragonParadox @Goldfish The big question I have is can we use Inspired Spell and Wild Arcana (which cut down on casting time) from Dany and Viserys to quickly go through the interrogations? I think it would take longer to shuffle assets around than a couple hours it takes us to go through all of our questions and considering what's immediately useful for each team, as opposed to a full day to make their excuses for the failure and call down help from one of the other cities so that they can save some face with a victory.

    We know what they currently have access to, letting them change their team composition in the middle of a match isn't good for us. If we can't speed our mind and body probing up, act now, betting that they can't bring in too much we don't already know about.
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    Using Wild Arcane an inspired spell certainly helps, but it takes times to work your way to the right questions to ask, whether that is an acceptable delay or not is up to you guys to judge and vote on.
     
    DragonParadox said:
    Devils' Denouncement ​

    Twenty Sixth Day of the Second Month 294 AC

    Eyes still held upon the last remaining Ashmede, you try to bend the devil to your will, to sow fear of the dark and the cold in a soul of iron and hellfire, for a moment his gaze wavers then he steadies once more, the words of oaths older than all the kingdoms of men upon his lips. You might almost admire the loyalty if it weren't so bloody inconvenient. You need to end this fast. Cut off the head and the body will wither.

    Time slows again, in mind as much as in truth, less than half a minute expanded thirty times over, long enough to think, time enough to plan and time enough to look out among the crumbling pyramids of Astapor for the foe who but for Teana's own shadow magics might have killed or from the position of the remaining Erinyes, captured her.

    Alas, there is no easy answer to be seen from high above, no foe crouching conveniently behind a statue. The Deimavigga must be using a Myrish Eye to aim its blows, or more likely a device more complex than anything that had ever passed through the hands of Myr's craftsmen. For a long moment you glare at the place the hell-forged spear had emerged from empty air, but there is no connection there to make use of. Like Teana's seeming, it was gone beyond recall.

    Looking around at the frozen tableau casting long shadows over fallen grotesques, bodies slowly dripping ichor that stained the crimson stone black, you have little doubt what the infernal commander will order now that his gambit has failed.

    Time lurches to a start and to the all too real shrieks of conjured demons, the remaining devils withdraw adding to the scent of brimstone and rot that hangs over the deserted pyramid. Mereth is just quick enough to pin another Erinyes in the calf, allowing Ser Richard and the Seeker to kill her before she can center her mind, but before any of the others can ready spell or sword it is over, you have won.

    The prize of winning is not small, five Erinyes and eight bone devils dead, two more of the Sisters of Battle and one Judgement Devil, fingers upon the very hand of Asmodous captured.

    Yet as your weary company sets down and Teana is healed from near death a second time in the span of moments, you quickly realize there is a choice to make here. Do you delay the attacks on the Unsullied 'forge' until you can obtain information from your prisoners and verify it with divination, or do you count instead upon momentum to carry the day.

    Dany and Teana argue for the former. "Hard enough to beard a devil in his lair without dealing with one that can shove his spear right out of a wall you were leaning on a moment ago. Better to give them all the tools they need."

    As you had half expected, Garin is in favor of the alternative. "They have tools aplenty, but if we make use of information from the prisoners to plan the assault, we may as well be admitting to being part of this skirmish. I don't know about you, but I didn't glamor myself up like a villain in mirror play on a lark."

    "Surely the writers have come up with something more creative than that these days," Benerro interjects with a small smile, pulling at the marks upon his face. Gone is the instrument of R'hllor's wrath leaving behind the priest who cares firstly for his flock and his fellows. Inevitably he comes out against Garin's position. "Prisoners are hardly the only place an infiltration party could learn more of where they must strike. With the chaos we have wrought and that which we have yet to work, it could even be that the devils will believe us opportunists, taking advantage of the seeming revival of the Sons of the Harpy."

    What do you do next?

    [] Continue on with the initial plan of trying to draw internal assets away from the sanctum below the Plaza of Puhishment

    [] Delay the operations until you can interrogate your prisoners and check the information

    [] Write in

    OOC: Unlike many of the enemies you have fought in the past, the servants of Asmodeous know when to withdraw, and 'when you have lost more than half your number' is such a moment. Not yet edited.
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    Here's an edited version of the chapter, DP.

    Despite the Devils escaping, this was a very satisfying chapter.
     
    Interrogation the corpses unfortunately won't work. Devils being devils, they will have a fallback plan and run off to hide somewhere. We need to hit the temples now and salvage what we can, and then interrogate the corpses after.
     
    DragonParadox said:
    Using Wild Arcane an inspired spell certainly helps, but it takes times to work your way to the right questions to ask, whether that is an acceptable delay or not is up to you guys to judge and vote on.
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    That is true, but there's a significant difference between being able to take a full day to grovel to the right person, or bribe/extort/blackmail a rival in Meereen into loaning you some of your Cabal devils to set up a trap in advance.

    And a few hours to shuffle around your local forces to claim a minor advantage if your suspicions on what the enemy's next move will be is correct (if you basically assume that he will probe the bodies he just claimed to gain more information, which seems likely for someone working for Asmodeus to assume).
     
    @Goldfish I think we should use Brain Spider to get at the unprotected information in the Judgement Devil's head which might be pertinent to our next attack, and then turn him into a book afterwards to try getting the stuff which is probably hidden using cipher decoding techniques later on.

    This should allow us to enhance the next blow somewhat by either hitting the right place or doubling down.
     
    Crake said:
    @Goldfish I think we should use Brain Spider to get at the unprotected information in the Judgement Devil's head which might be pertinent to our next attack, and then turn him into a book afterwards to try getting the stuff which is probably hidden using cipher decoding techniques later on.

    This should allow us to enhance the next blow somewhat by either hitting the right place or doubling down.
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    Sounds good to me.

    [X] Crake
     
    @DragonParadox, I sincerely hope the corpses and the living devils have some Mammon Erinyes names for us. We're running dry on our sources since Mammon himself seems to be pulling back in his plots, which I hoped he'd be too proud to do.
     
    [X] You will bag and tag the bodies for later perusal once time isn't so pressing.

    [X] The captured Erinyes and Judgement Devil, however, you will use Brain Spider to mindprobe and interrogate. Regardless of what you do or do not discover, you will only spend a few hours at most to work down some prepared questions and then regroup to plan your next move based upon what you learn. You are assuming that if you give them a full day, the commander here will call in some favors, trade for, or blackmail others into assisting him here in Astapor, greatly complicating matters. Even the most well organized fiend won't be able to do much more than pick and choose how to fight you with a few hours to spare, and you're already confident you can beat him once pinned.
    -[X] Once finished, the Erinyes you will interrogate more in-depth later, before shuffling them off to a place in your larder, not disrespecting their loyalty to Asmodeus enough to try to give them the soft sell.
    --[X] The Judgement Devil on the other hand you will bind into a book, decoding ciphered, more obviously protected information, of your enemy and their plans.

    [X] Moonsong Level Up
    -[X] Class: +1 Bard
    -[X] Skills (11 points): +1 Diplomacy, +1 Escape Artist, +1 Hide, +1 Listen, +1 Move Silently, +1 Perform (Comedy), +1 Profession (Officer), +1 Sense Motive, +1 Spot, +2 Perform (String Instruments)
    -[X] Spells:
    --[X] 4th Level: Grand Destiny
     
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    BTW, @DragonParadox, one of the previous chapters mentioned that this group of Devils was quite well equipped. Now I'm always down for more loot, but in this instance I'm just as curious to know what the captured and slain Devils were carrying so we'll have a better idea of what the rest of Asmodeus' forces will have to work with.
     
    [X] Crake
    @Goldfish, you keeping track of our spellslots? We might want to, this day shapes up to be a shitshow of lengthy proportions.
     
    Crake said:
    @Goldfish BTW you forgot to add "God-Slayer" to Richard's aliases. 😠
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    Oh, I meant to ask DP about that. Didn't want to include them myself, since they can have IC implications.

    @DragonParadox?
    egoo said:
    [X] Crake
    @Goldfish, you keeping track of our spellslots? We might want to, this day shapes up to be a shitshow of lengthy proportions.
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    We're fine on spell slots. Viserys should still have 6 or 7 Mythic Power, two 9th level slots, three 8th level slots, and five or six 7th level slots.
     
    Duesal said:
    @DragonParadox, I sincerely hope the corpses and the living devils have some Mammon Erinyes names for us. We're running dry on our sources since Mammon himself seems to be pulling back in his plots, which I hoped he'd be too proud to do.
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    It's possible

    Goldfish said:
    BTW, @DragonParadox, one of the previous chapters mentioned that this group of Devils was quite well equipped. Now I'm always down for more loot, but in this instance I'm just as curious to know what the captured and slain Devils were carrying so we'll have a better idea of what the rest of Asmodeus' forces will have to work with.
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    I'll cover it in the next update.
     
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