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

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Goldfish said:
Snake crap is technically an afterlife, too. After living, they transitioned into their next phase of existence as poo.
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Crake said:
That snake poo could be growing us some good ass plants!
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Yss doesn't poop though... Maybe we should ask that for exchange for the lot we will arrest? Like if he can excrete the stuff he can't digest in exchange. I'm sure we can do stuff with it...

Maybe feed Tor with it to make him a better god opposite of Yss instead of Sseth. Truth is not always that convenient afterall.

A god of fiction perhaps?

Gives a whole new meaning to the term crappy fanfiction :V
 
Crake said:
Deific Dookie.

Godly Guano.

Celestial Caca.

Empyreal Excrement.
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I'll leave you to your evening entertainment then.
 
Vote closed.
Adhoc vote count started by Goldfish on Oct 29, 2020 at 5:09 AM, finished with 77 posts and 19 votes.
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Aside from all this demon business, I am deeply impressed with @DragonParadox's cunning and his planning ability. Working against so many paranoid and knowledgeable players, yet he still has the capability to throw curveballs without railroading the plot. Bravo dude, Bravo!!
 
I just finished binging this entire thread through a phone. I think I'm dead inside.

But I'm also really really satisfied. Gnight all.

Hoping to actually get on this ride instead of just reading the FUN.
 
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Winning Vote:
[] Have all general orders for maintenance on the MirrorVision network placed on hold while the Inquisition checks the propaganda mirrors, Whispering Braziers, and Air Fleet communications systems as well as the All-Speech Printing Presses for tampering. Have the Inquisition investigate the Public Commission of the Education Department for recent work orders made for the MirrorVision network, to determine who is knowingly or unknowingly working for Abraxas.
-[] Have those Enchanters known to perform the work to link new mirrors with each other during or after enchanting process investigated for compulsion or subversion.
-[] The official account of the story in the Imperial News Network will be that a demonic cult had been detected in the Imperium, which had intermingled with reactionaries and anti-Imperial forces seeking to undermine the realm through mental corruption and planned terror attacks. Massive summoning efforts had to be undertaken to capture all Demons and the Inquisition is currently still investigating and arresting cultists, collaborators and terrorists.
[] Place Forbiddance over the area, and then collapse the building on top of itself with Earthquake, prepared to kill anything that survives the initial collapse. If nothing seems to have survived, you will pick through the ruins.
[] Tell Garin that HEADS WILL ROLL FOR THIS.
 
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Part MMMDCLXXXIII: In Darker Dreams
  • Threadmarks
    • In Darker Dreams ​

    Eighteenth Day of the Third Month 294 AC

    You could try to sneak and spring the trap from the inside, play your best card here and now, but you are not Corlys Waters this day, nor are you even Prince Viserys set upon the tides of fate to a far off island, looking to conquer it with sorcery and cunning. You are a ruler, an Emperor almost crowed, and it is as such that you are going to untangle this knot.

    The plan races around your company as the five of you split off to seem less conspicuous in the entrance hall. The Wayfinder's dust shifts in your hand. "How low is the aquifer here?" you ask Relath.

    For a mortal governor that might have been a confusing question, but dragons wish to know every corner of their realm. He gives the answer without hesitation: "Forty feet." Mathematics may be more Lya's skill than yours, but you know about architecture to triangulate how far below you the watchmoles must be.

    You begin to cast a spell of warding that would prevent all translocation within the building and around it, without sound or gesture so at the last moment you can signal Qyburn and Maelor to translocate down to rescue the watchmoles, just before the curtain falls. While doing so you grasp the enchanted mirror with your magic and pull it from its resting place.

    You don't catch all the demons, only a handful of quasits and a succubus, but then as you had suspected they are not important servants of Abraxas. Such would not have been used to bait the trap. What you do have is the mirror that should yield the identity of the enchanters who had linked it to the network and both your watchmoles, seemingly none the worst for their captivity.

    Watchmoles recovered

    Captured 5 Quasits and 1 Succubus

    Counterfeit mirror recovered for analysis

    ***​

    Eighteenth Day of the Third Month 294 AC

    "It's a good thing you assigned Dany to the task or it might have taken us days or weeks longer to spot the thread that bound the ritualists together." Garin looks tired, or perhaps simply frustrated. It had been his inquisitors who dropped the ball even though you can hardly blame him for it. Investigations are still ongoing though they had not found any malice within the Inquisition proper yet, you know that much, but whatever you had been called here to hear is obviously more of a breakthrough.

    "At first the only common thread between the diviners who were found to be compromised seemed to be that they had all taken a long journey outside the Deep over the past three months, but when we checked who they had met with, even what they had bought or where they have stayed, there seemed to be no commonality at all, until Dany reminded us that the Dreamlands in Sorcerer's Deep and to an extent Bloodstone entire is warded where the rest of the Empire is not."

    "And Abraxas had a history with the Valyrians, it would not have been that surprising for his agents to be able to enter the Dream and use it as means of subversion. We called the dream-walking tanar'ri, and we do believe it is just one from the marks it left, Whisper, for lack of a better name," Lya explains. "Between accounts in the library and a few hints Dany got I was able to piece together what was done to most of the diviners. It's sort of like the difference between charming someone and dominating their will. Domination here being full dedication to the demon lord, instead they got call it a demon on their shoulder, something to incline them to his will when they are in a suggestive state."

    "Like opening themselves up to the magic of the ritual," you nod. "You said most of the diviners were subverted that way, that implies a few took it a step further...." Right onto the sacrificial altar, your tone implies.

    "Two of them, yes. We found them out because their magic had just 'bloomed unexpectedly' last month, the bastards were trying to infiltrate the Scholarum, not here in Sorcerer's Deep but in Pentos," Garin picks up the report again. "Unfortunately that did not lead us to any actual demons since Whisper is smart."

    "Whenever he did a meeting with a prospective convert he just has one of his shadow demons possess some random person in the Dreamlands, like the butcher, the baker or the candlestick maker, and had them do the cloaked stranger act. The only thing left by morning would be the host having an unrestful sleep," Dany finishes. "We tried do divine the demons, but divination does not work properly in the Dreamlands and that is where we think they are based out of."

    "Fuck..." You barely notice the word slipping past your lips. You are going to have to figure out how to protect people in their dreams now. The research into the Dreamlands suddenly gains a new urgency not just for the next life, but this one.

    "There is some good news," Garin offers. "Not all of Whispers' operations could be done without assets in the material realm and so a lot of the time he uses garden variety corruption to get what he wants. The enchanter who linked the mirror you recovered for instance thought he was doing a favor to a Tolosi Voice who wanted to broadcast a rival's dirty dealings to the whole city and destroy his reputation. He was paid actual money that could be traced as far as accounts in Volantis, which have been frozen. An inquisitor team got to the head of the House Leici just before the demons could kill him and tie off loose ends, so now he's singing like a nightingale... or maybe a swan, since he knows it will be his last."

    "The first question is how much of this do we want to get out? People are already on edge from the news that there was a seditious demonic attack answered through mass summoning without knowing that going to sleep is enough to open you to said corruption," Lya says worried.

    "On the other hand, spreading terrifying rumors about their capabilities is just the thing demons would do to stoke fear," Maelor says from beside you, his tone uncharacteristically grim.

    "Not Abraxas I don't think," Lya counters firmly. "This whole thing was done with a subtle hand. I don't think he will suddenly go loud for just a pinch of terror to spice mortal souls with."

    "I'm not even sure how easy or how hard the dream possessions even are," Dany agrees. "We have been able to account for seventeen of them over a span of four months and fifteen compromised diviners. I think the number of demons who can dreamwalk competently is limited, and they are probably concerned about drawing predators if they send out too many ripples."

    How far do you spread the news of dream possessions?

    [] Just trusted officials and Inquisition

    [] Trusted officials, inquisitors and senior lawmen

    [] Trusted officials, inquisitors, senior lawmen and Scholarum masters

    [] Make it public

    [] Write in

    OOC: The demons are just standard, I did not want to waste my time stating out fodder when there was more complex intrigue afoot.
     
    Last edited:
  • Threadmarks
    • damn that's clever.
    really this makes me wish we could hire them becouse damn this is a very good plot they have going.
     
    DragonParadox said:
    In Darker Dreams ​

    Eighteenth Day of the Third Month 294 AC

    You could try to sneak and spring the trap from the inside, play your best card here and now, but you are not Corlys Waters this day, nor are you even Prince Viserys set upon the tides of fate to a far off island, looking to conquer it with sorcery and cunning. You are a ruler, an Emperor almost crowned and it as such that you are going to untangle this knot.

    The plan races around your company as the five of you split to seem less conspicuous in the entrance hall. The Wayfinder's dust shifts in your hand. "How low is the aquifer here?" you ask Relath.

    For a mortal governor that might have been a confusing question, but dragons wish to know every corner of their realm. He gives the answer without hesitation: "Forty feet." Mathematics may be more Lya's skill than yours, but you know about architecture to triangulate how far below you the watchmoles must be.

    You begin to cast a spell of warding that would prevent all translocation within the building and around it, without sound or gesture so at the last moment you can signal Qyburn and Maelor to translocate down to rescue the watchmoles, just before the curtain falls. You grasp the enchanted mirror with your magic and pull it from its resting place.

    You don't catch all the demons, only a handful of quasits and a succubus, but then as you had suspected, they are not important servants of Abraxas. Such would not have been used to bait the trap. What you do have is the mirror that should yield the identity of the enchanters who had linked it to the network and both your watchmoles, seemingly none the worst for their captivity.

    Watchmoles recovered

    Captured 5 Quasits and 1 Sucubus

    Counterfeit mirror recovered for analyses

    ***​

    Nineteenth Day of the Third Month 294 AC

    "It's a good thing you assigned Dany to the task or it might have taken us days or weeks longer to spot the thread that bound the ritualists together." Garin looks tired, or perhaps simply frustrated. It had been his inquisitors who dropped the ball, though you can hardly blame him for it. Investigations are still ongoing, though they had not found any malice within the inquisition proper yet, you know that much. Whatever you had been called here to hear is obviously more of a breakthrough.

    "At first the only common thread between the diviners who were found to be comprommised seemed to be that they had all taken a long journey outside the Deep over the past three months, but when we checked who they had met with, even what they had bought or where they have stayed, there seemed to be no commonality at all, until Dany reminded us that the Dreamlands in Sorcerer's Deep and to an extent Bloodstone entire, is warded where the rest of the Empire is not."

    "And Abraxes had a history with the Valyrians. It would not have been that surprising for his agents to be able to enter the dream and use it as means of subversion. We called the dream-walking tanar'ri, and we do believe it is just one from the marks it left, Whisper for lack of a better name," Lya explains. "Between accounts in the library and a few hints Dany got, I was able to piece together what was done to most of the diviners. It's sort of like the difference between charming someone and dominating their will. Domination here being full dedication to the demon lord, instead they got, lets call it a demon on their shoulder, something to incline them to his will when they are in a suggestive state."

    "Like opening themselves up to the magic of the ritual," you nod. "You said most of the diviners were subverted that way, that implies a few took it a step further...." Right onto the sacrificial altar, your tone implies.

    "Two of them, yes. We found them out because their magic had just 'bloomed unexpectedly' last month, the bastards were trying to infiltrate the Scholarum, not here in Sorcerer's Deep but in Pentos," Garin picks up the report again. "Unfortunately, that did not lead us to any actual demons since Whisper is smart."

    "Whenever he had a meeting with a prospective convert, he just has one of his shadow demons possess some random person in the dreamands, like the butcher, the baker, or the candlestick maker, tthen use them to do the cloaked stranger act. The only trace left by morning would be the host having an unrestful sleep," Dany finishes. "We tried do divine the demons, but divination does not work properly in the Dreamlands and that is where we think they are based out of."

    "Fuck..." You barely notice the word slipping past your lips. You are going to have to figure out how to protect people in their dreams now. The research into the Dreamlands suddenly gains a new urgency, not for the next life but this one.

    "There is some good news," Garin offers. "Not all of Whispers' operations could be done without assets in the material realm and so a lot of the time he uses garden variety corruption to get what he wants. The enchanter who linked the mirror you recovered for instance thought he was doing a favor to a Tolosi Voice who wanted to broadcast a rival's dirty dealings to the whole city and destroy his reputation. He was paid actual money that could be traced as far as accounts in Volantis which have been frozen. An inquisition team got to the Head of the House Leici just before the demons could kill him and tie off loose ends, so now he's singing like a nightingale.... or maybe a swan, since he knows it will be his last."

    "The first question is how much of this do we want to get out? People are already on edge from the news that there was a seditious demonic attack answered through mass summoning without knowing that going to sleep is enough to open you to said corruption," Lya says worried.

    "On the other hand, spreading terrifying rumors about their capabilities is just the thing demons would do to stoke fear," Maelor says from beside you, his tone uncharacteristically grim.

    "Not Abraxas, I don't think," Lya counters firmly. "This whole thing was done with a subtle hand I doubt he will suddenly go loud for just a pinch of terror to spice mortal souls with."

    "I'm not even sure how easy or how hard the dream possessions are," Dany agrees. "We have been able to account for seventeen of them over a span of four months and fifteen compromised diviners. I think the number of demons who can dreamwalk comptently is limited and they are probably concerned about drawing predators if they send out too many ripples."

    How far do you spread the news of dream possessions?

    [] Just trusted officials and inquisition

    [] Trusted officials, inquisition and senior lawmen

    [] Trusted officials, inquisition, senior lawmen and Scholarum masters

    [] Make it public

    [] Write in

    OOC: The demons are just standard, I did not want to waste my time statting out fodder when there was more complex intrigue afoot. Not yet edited.
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    Here's an edited version of the chapter, DP.
     
    First things first, every member of the House of Mirrors and all enchanters need to be issued a PfE ring if they don't already have one. Can you tell us how many that will be, @DragonParadox?
     
    Goldfish said:
    First things first, every member of the House of Mirrors and all enchanters need to be issued a PfE ring if they don't already have one. Can you tell us how many that will be, @DragonParadox?
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    We need around 300 PfE rings for the Enchanters, far less if you count it likely that some of them (like the hireling Masters/Journeymen from Vialesk and the Opaline Vault) already have them.

    Edit: There's also Scholarum Level 5-6 mages who have it as part of their standard kit.
     
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