- Location
- United States
@DragonParadox, how would we go about building a Dream Forge to make dreamscape minions for the Imperium?
A Sword Without a Hilt: A Song of Ice and Fire/D&D 3.5 Crossover
- Thread starter DragonParadox
- Start date
-
- 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
You need the research for hardening in the dreamlands and the one for cost reduction before you can even consider planning something like that.
- Location
- Germany
No. I meant impact on the strategic level stats.
Pricing I'd suggest 10 IM per pop as upkeep and an initial investment of 100,000 IM + 50 IM per pop.
That looks like a good representation yeah. IRL trains were a gamechanger in terms of transportation infrastructure. there's no reason why that would not be the case here.
- Location
- Germany
@DragonParadox
We voted to have Lya use Touch of history on the ward-breaking item, did that give any hints?
We voted to have Lya use Touch of history on the ward-breaking item, did that give any hints?
I'll cover that in the next update.
It might be a good idea to think about a way to protect the trains and theirs tracks against sabotage since it might reduces peoples willingness to use them.
I suppose that the tracks would be magically reinforced, so they should be harder to destroy than mundane ones but it wont stop a determined nuisance,and increasing theirs defenses more than that risk increasing the cost, even if the idea of self-repairing tracks or the tracks being repaired by the train just before it passed over them is funny and would take care of most attacks, it's most likely not economically practical.
I suppose that the tracks would be magically reinforced, so they should be harder to destroy than mundane ones but it wont stop a determined nuisance,and increasing theirs defenses more than that risk increasing the cost, even if the idea of self-repairing tracks or the tracks being repaired by the train just before it passed over them is funny and would take care of most attacks, it's most likely not economically practical.
Crake
I AM THE STORM THAT IS APPROACHING
- Location
- USA
Divination would prevent most accidents.
Nothing will prevent most sufficiently planned out sabotage, at most we can initiate a proactive defense by simply figuring out who is attacking us and killing them all.
That's it. Nothing else we can do once an enemy is sufficiently powerful. They can attack out of nowhere and they can't be predicted due to mindblank. You can only try harder to track them down and remove assets available to initiate attacks with.
Goldfish
Friendly Spider-Fish Abomination
- Location
- Formerly of the Far Realm
The tracks are part of the system of roads we've been building across Western Essos. They're magically Hardened to be harder than steel, so regular wear and tear should be greatly reduced and deliberately damaging them would require magic or a lot of physical effort. That won't prevent sabotage, but it will mitigate it somewhat. We've planned to have regular patrols of False Ravens to inspect the roads and tracks for damage or obstructions, so any issues that do arise should be taken care of fairly quickly.
I somehow forgot we can just use divination on things like that.
- Location
- Germany
Should do the same with the Demon Mirror.
When we can find their crafters, we can actually deal a blow to their efforts.
- Location
- Germany
I thought the mirror was done by one of our own people who took money for it?
While thinking he helped some Magister throw dirt at another.
- Location
- Germany
No, that's how they got the attunement done. The mirror itself was produced by someone else.
Or at least that's how I understood it.
Vote closed
Part MMMDCLXXXV: Crimson and Quicksilver
Crimson and Quicksilver
Twenty First Day of the Third Month 294 AC
After promising Black Walder that you will send investigators to look into potential assassins in Omber you turn your thoughts back to the matter of the hour in a rather disquieting way. Lya finds you that afternoon walking in the godswood. She looks shaky and pale, more than the dappled shadows of the oak trees putting dark circles under her eyes. You have not seen her like this for years, not since she forged the ring to spare herself from having to sleep more than two hours each day. She is mostly good about getting that sleep, and even when she is not her familiar is.
"What happened?" you ask even as you weave wards against any spies daring enough to walk upon the Old Gods holy ground.
"I read the Final Incantation..." The last is in the black tongue of the Pit. Surely she doesn't mean...
"Well... alright, I read a syllable of it with the help of the Old Gods, but it sounds more dramatic to say it the other way don't you think?" You are relieved to hear a familiar giggle as she sinks down on the nearest bench. "I'll be able to reproduce that ruby I think, but I'll need a new workshop to do it. Some place with fewer people and living things you care about in general come to think of it."
"Slow down a bit, what does the ruby do? Just break mind wards...?" It feels a bit absurd to append something that can reliably break the most powerful wards against enchantment and possession with only the word 'just', but the Final Incantation of Abraxas' greatest secret. Mages have been driven mad or damned themselves for only a glimpse of its power.
"It disjoints all abjuration magic for one to four minutes and it can be handed to a target surreptitiously, or just flown into the mouth of a dragon I suppose, or you can just throw it if you lack the imagination of our 'friend' Whisper I guess."
"So he is unlikely to have more of these then?" you ask, hopeful not not willing to make assumptions when they can cause as much harm, as in this instance.
"If he has more of these they can't be many more," she replies firmly. "Abraxas could make them, himself bound to the form of an avatar, his herald maybe if he has such a thing. I have found one in the records, but no matter how many archmages he may have ensnared over the ages I do not think He would trust them with this lore. It is, after all, not that far from a gem that can break all protection magics to one that can break all enchantments or curses. He would not wish his slaves to slip their bonds."
Gained Wardbreaking Gem
Wardbreaking Gem
Description: To all but the most detailed arcane searches this gem appears to be nothing more than a mundane ruby of middling size and worth. To such an investigation it seems instead to pulse ever so slowly with threads of inner darkness that seem almost to form seals of some unknowable tongue. Deeper still it is not sight but the soul itself that must behold the secret of its making and be undone, or else claim it for its own.
Power: A powerful item, infused with a single syllable of the Final Incantation, this gem automatically disjoints all Abjuration spells on a target that touches it. Spells of this school are unraveled, while items are suppressed for 1d4 minutes. This can be used as a touch attack (Ranged Touch, 20ft range increments) or by simply giving the gem to the intended victim, or letting them pick it up. Once the item has been picked up and the effects have come to pass it does not further affect the bearer until they drop it and picks it up again, so it can be used without risking to self-dispel each time.
Caster Level: 20
Spells required to Craft: Wish or Miracle and Disjunction
Description: To all but the most detailed arcane searches this gem appears to be nothing more than a mundane ruby of middling size and worth. To such an investigation it seems instead to pulse ever so slowly with threads of inner darkness that seem almost to form seals of some unknowable tongue. Deeper still it is not sight but the soul itself that must behold the secret of its making and be undone, or else claim it for its own.
Power: A powerful item, infused with a single syllable of the Final Incantation, this gem automatically disjoints all Abjuration spells on a target that touches it. Spells of this school are unraveled, while items are suppressed for 1d4 minutes. This can be used as a touch attack (Ranged Touch, 20ft range increments) or by simply giving the gem to the intended victim, or letting them pick it up. Once the item has been picked up and the effects have come to pass it does not further affect the bearer until they drop it and picks it up again, so it can be used without risking to self-dispel each time.
Caster Level: 20
Spells required to Craft: Wish or Miracle and Disjunction
"And you can make these things, without harm to yourself?" you press. It might just be your imagination but the gemstone seems heavier than it should be in your hand, almost pulsing with resentment.
"Oh no, there is plenty of harm. You get some kind of horrible wasting curse, your skin shrivels up and your blood starts to burst through in blue-black blisters, but it's not the will of Abraxas or anything, just a backlash from uttering the syllable, so a healing spell can clear it right up."
"When you say healing spell, you mean one of the Sixth Circle, and this is for you?" You are starting to feel a new wellspring of sympathy for poor Ser Richard. You can't blame her for trying, not here in the heart of a friendly god(s) power and with Dany on hand to heal, but still a small part of you that seems to have taken up temporary residence in your still too swift-beating heart wishes she had been less thorough in her investigations.
"Definitely would not suggest anyone else try," she replies seriously. "You would probably be fine with speaking it, but you are not an enchanter. The djinn and shaitan might have mages able to make use of it too, if they were willing to try considering the source."
"And the mirror?" you steer the conversation to less fraught topics, or at least to what you hope is less fraught.
"Well, the glass was bought in Myr and hardened in Everfire Dale, but the enchanter was Asabhadi from the tongue and the accent he had. I think he might have been what the Yi Tish call a user of maho, or blood magic, the narrow definition I mean, not the broad one. He was calling out to bodiless oni spirits for power. Unfortunately he also wore a full length veil. I tried scrying for the actual workshop but all I found was a pile of rocks. Most likely they cleared out and demolished it behind them when we grabbed the mirror."
"So we have nothing?" you sigh. You hate competent foes.
"Well, I wouldn't say nothing. We know the cult had a meaningful presence in Asabhad and probably sourced their reagents through the local markets. Considering that rumor with the Crane Lord falling into a deathly slumber and then three months after awakening being poisoned with a substance so virulent it consumed his body I think it is fair to guess the Whisper may have been otherwise active in the city as well."
What do you do next?
[] Pursue the lead after finishing the summoning
-[] Write in with who
[] Receive a report
-[] Write in
[] Write in
OOC: You can thank the Philosopher's Tree, the spell Nine Lives and your library in that order for the rolls that lead to this. Alter fortune would not have worked since Dany would have had no way of knowing if Lya failed her save versus Knowing Unholy Secrets of Magic.
Last edited:
- Location
- United States
Well god damn. Abraxas invested a hell of a lot into messing with us. I never realized how salty he was.
- Location
- Chicago
If this is what just a syllable does I shudder to think of the possible effects of the full Final Incantation.
Edit: On the flipside just imagine if we could bind that effect to just the blade of Oathkeeper or Dark Sister.
Edit: On the flipside just imagine if we could bind that effect to just the blade of Oathkeeper or Dark Sister.
Last edited:
You not only closed his age old portal to the Abyss, you stole it and repurposed it into a wizard's tower, of the decidedly non-damned sort.
- Location
- United States
Lya stealing the full spell from Abraxas would be amazing. I wonder how many syllables there are.
Well I'm more than happy to steal more of his things.
- Location
- Chicago
Stealing the whole Incantation sounds like the kind of thing that would get us a demon lord's utterly undivided attention and singular hate
So let's pencil that in for after the war with Winter, at the earliest.
So let's pencil that in for after the war with Winter, at the earliest.
Lya is cncerned it is the kind of thing that would end up with whoever stole it getting some horrific curse. He is a representation of the forbidden, secret and self-destructive aspects of magic as seen by the effects of speaking that one syllable.
Goldfish
Friendly Spider-Fish Abomination
- Location
- Formerly of the Far Realm
Crimson and Quicksilver
Twenty First Day of the Third Month 294 AC
After promising Black Walder that you will send investigators to look into potential assassins in Omber, you turn your thoughts back to the matter of the hour in a rather disquieting way. Lya finds you that afternoon walking in the godswood. She looks shaky and pale, more than the dappled shadows of the oak trees putting dark circles under her eyes. You have not seen her like this for years, not since she forged the ring to spare herself from having to sleep more than two hours each day. She is mostly good about getting that sleep, and even when she is not her familiar is.
"What happened?" you ask even as you weave wards against any spies daring enough to walk upon the Old Gods holy ground.
"I read the Final Incantation..." The last is in the black tongue of the Pit. Surely she doesn't mean?
"Well alright, I read a syllable of it with the help of the Old Gods, but it sounds more dramatic to say it the other way, don't you think?" You are relieved to hear a familiar giggle as she sinks down on the nearest bench. "I'll be able to reproduce that ruby, I think, but I'll need a new workshop to do it, some place with fewer people and living things you care about in general, come to think of."
"Slow down a bit, what does the ruby do? Just break mind wards...?" It feels a bit absurd to append something that can reliably break the most powerful wards against enchantment and possession with the words 'just', but the Final Incantation is Abraxas' greatest secret. Mages have been driven mad or damned themselves for only a glimpse of its power.
"It disjoins all abjuration magic for between one and four minutes and it can be handed to a target surreptitiously, or just flown into the mouth of a dragon, I suppose. Or you can just throw it, if you lack the imagination of our 'friend' Whisper, I guess."
"So he is unlikely to have more of these then?" you ask, hopeful but not willing to make assumptions when they can cause as much harm as in this instance.
"If he has more of these, there can't be many more," she replies firmly. "Abraxas could make them, himself bound to the form of an avatar, his herald maybe if he has such a thing. I have found more records, but no matter how many archmages he may have ensnared over the ages I do not think He would trust them with this lore. It is, after all, not that far from a gem that can break all protection magics to one that can break all enchantments or curses. He would not wish his slaves to slip their bonds."
Gained Wardbreaking Gem
Wardbreaking Gem
Description: To all but the most detailed arcane searches, this gem appears to be nothing more than a mundane ruby of middling size and worth. To a thorough investigation, however, it seems instead to pulse ever so slowly with threads of inner darkness that appear almost to form seals of some unknowable tongue. Deeper still, it is not sight but the soul itself that must behold the secret of its making and be undone, or else claim it for its own.
Power: A powerful item, infused with a single syllable of the Final Incantation, this gem automatically disjoins all Abjuration spells on a target that touches it. Spells of this school are unravelled, while items are suppressed for 1d4 minutes. This can be used as a touch attack (Ranged Touch, 20ft range increments) or by simply giving the gem to the intended victim, or letting him pick it up. Once the item has been picked up and the effects have worked, it does not further affect the bearer until he drops it and picks it up again, so it can be used without risking to self-Dispel each time.
Caster Level: 20
Spells required to Craft: Wish or Miracle and Disjunction
Description: To all but the most detailed arcane searches, this gem appears to be nothing more than a mundane ruby of middling size and worth. To a thorough investigation, however, it seems instead to pulse ever so slowly with threads of inner darkness that appear almost to form seals of some unknowable tongue. Deeper still, it is not sight but the soul itself that must behold the secret of its making and be undone, or else claim it for its own.
Power: A powerful item, infused with a single syllable of the Final Incantation, this gem automatically disjoins all Abjuration spells on a target that touches it. Spells of this school are unravelled, while items are suppressed for 1d4 minutes. This can be used as a touch attack (Ranged Touch, 20ft range increments) or by simply giving the gem to the intended victim, or letting him pick it up. Once the item has been picked up and the effects have worked, it does not further affect the bearer until he drops it and picks it up again, so it can be used without risking to self-Dispel each time.
Caster Level: 20
Spells required to Craft: Wish or Miracle and Disjunction
"And you can make these things, without harm to yourself?" you press. It might just be your imagination but the gemstone seems heavier than it should be in your hand, almost pulsing with resentment.
"Oh no, there is plenty of harm,. You get some kind of horrible wasting curse, your skin shrivels up and your blood starts to burst through in blue-black blisters, but it's not the will of Abraxas or anything, just a backlash from uttering the syllable, so a healing spell can clear it right up."
"When you say healing spell, you mean one of the sixth circle, and this is for you?" You are starting to feel a new wellspring of sympathy for poor Ser Richard. You can't blame her for trying, not here in the heart of a friendly god's power and with Dany on hand to heal, still a small part of you that seems to have taken up temporary residence in your still too swift-beating heart wishes she had been less though in her investigations.
"Definitely would not suggest anyone else try," she replies seriously. "You would probably be fine with speaking it, but you are not an enchanter. The Djinn and Shaitan might have mages able to make use of it, too, if they were willing to try, considering the source."
"And the mirror?" you steer the conversation to less fraught topics, or at least what you hope are less fraught topics.
"Well the glass was bought in Myr and hardened in Everfire Dale, but the enchanter was Asabhadi from the tongue and the accent he had. I think he might have been what the Yi Tish call a user of maho, or blood magic, the narrow definition I mean, not the broad one. He was calling out to bodiless oni spirits for power. Unfortunately, he also wore a full length veil. I tried scrying for the actual workshop but all I found was a pile of rocks. Most likely they cleared out and demolished it behind them when we grabbed the mirror."
"So we have nothing?" you sigh. You hate competent foes.
"Well, I wouldn't say nothing. We know the cult had a meaningful presence in Asabhad and probably sourced their reagents through the local markets. Considering that rumor with the Crane Lord falling into a deathly slumber and then three months after awakening being poisoned with a substance so virulent it consumed his body, I think it is fair to guess the Whisper may have been otherwise active in the city as well."
What do you do next?
[] Pursue the lead after finishing the summoning
-[] Write in with who
[] Receive a report
-[] Write in
[] Write in
OOC: You can thank the Philosopher's Tree, the spell Nine Lives and your library in that order for the rolls that lead to this. Alter fortune would not have worked since Dany would have had no way of knowing if Lya failed her save versus Knowing Unholy Secrets of Magic. Not yet edited.
I can see how Lya can learn enough to discern how to produce the Wardbreaking Gems, but she cannot actually cast the necessary spells to reproduce one yet.
- Location
- United States
Not to mention the fact that we can't exactly steal it on a whim. We'd need a dozen more opportunities as big as this to get a shot at the other syllables.