Exactly this. A whole kingdom full of enchanted people would be both boring and cruel, giving them a world that fits the characters, that is just good stagecraft.
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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
Exactly this. A whole kingdom full of enchanted people would be both boring and cruel, giving them a world that fits the characters, that is just good stagecraft.
- Location
- ?????????
The reads exactly like all the unethical psychology experiments I read about in my third year of High School. So it's not enslaving someone it's "just" setting up their life in a way so that they go toward a specific path...The plan is so nice that they deserve to be nuked twice.
- Location
- United States
Did you get this idea from The Truman Show? This is basically The Truman Show.
Well there would be a bit of mental nudging too here and there, but mostly on stuff like 'this is adn abberation, deal with it'
No, though that is a good example
Vote closed.
Interlude CMLXII: Errantry's End
Errantry's End
Ninth Day of the Fourth Month 294 AC
This was not how Renly Storm had expected the quest to find his maker and his mirror to end. After more than a week of chasing what felt like mist and shadows, after months of questioning leads, sometimes fighting, sometimes killing at the behest of strange fey with stranger purposes... What did he have to show for it? A bloody sword, a glib tongue and a color he had shared with the King. A prisoner had talked and now they walked through the roiling mists of Limbo, where the true Renly Baratheon was fighting imagined terrors. He wondered if it would have been wiser not so ask, not to search at all. At least then he would not have known for certain that he was a discarded toy in the quest to make a counterfeit hero.
"You know, you could call these wings I bear right now fake," Princess Daenerys said, her gaze catching his with insight befitting her current angelic seeming. "I can still fly with them fine. We are all made with magic as much as flesh and as for being made with a purpose, well..." she pointed at one of the dark dragons circling above where the sky might be were this a realm where heaven and earth were parted. "They were made with a corpse too, spies, diplomats, sorcerers and soldiers. Even Viserys and I cannot say we were not born without a purpose. The realm must have an heir and a spare after all." Her tone took on a punctilious drawl that drew an unwitting smile from Renly. "And it's not even just nobles. How many a peasant farmers has not looked on a babe in his cradle and seen another hand for the fields. The seeming purposes others give us before we are born to not define us unless we let them. You are not a stand in..."
"And even if you once were the play's been canceled," the King finished with cold satisfaction.
Renly struggled to keep back a shiver as he shifted in the saddle. He knew the words had not been meant for him, but the reminder of how far King Viserys was willing to go to fight a war, or rather not to fight a war he thought he could not afford were chilling to contemplate. "I think we are getting close."
They were not in fact. It was another few hours of riding through the mist past great panes of crystal that flowed like water and flowers forged of smoke and fading music before the mist parted to reveal a landscape shocking in its bucolic ordinariness. Rolling hills, dotted with herds of grazing sheep cut here and there by streams that rolled on towards a sea that did not exist. Looking behind them Renly was startled to see that the mists they had just emerged from now looked to be as far as the horizon blending into the heavy clouds above.
"There is a town to the south," one the of the dragons called out silently from above. "Likely the best place to ask for this Renly Once-Prince. This corner of Limbo is only so large so any part of it wrought in such detail and inhabited besides must be of some note."
After taking to the sky himself, though not in dragon form, the King confirmed. "It's a reflection of Bronzegate as it would have been two thousand years ago, a hillfort of the first men surrounded by homes and shops that took shelter in its shadow."
"Are the people here aware?" Renly asked, not trusting his voice to say more.
"As far as we were able to discern, yes, they are sentient," the same mind dragon replied gently. I should learn their names, the young knight vowed. He had been too focused on himself these past hours and failed to show courtesy to his traveling companions.
As they passed a cart on the road the princess' eyes grew distant with witch-sight than widened in shock. "I think they are petitioners," she whispered urgently, though likely she need not have bothered. Not many Stormlander smallfolk had cause to speak High Valyrian after all. "Some souls do end up in Limbo and if you are going to put on this sort of mummer's play, human souls would play the people most convincingly... especially if they didn't know they were playing."
To tell the truth Renly was not wholly comfortable with kidnapping the next traveler they spotted on the road to check that, even if they did set him on his way none the wiser after altering his memory. Yet the implications were most concerning...
"There really are monsters attacking this place from the mists, the rest of Limbo," the King mused. "So when Renly's playing at being a hero, he plays in earnest and for real stakes."
The local rumor mill was hardly quiet on Ser Renard. Most recently he and his fellows, bold knights all, had slain a many-tentacled horror from the sea, a creature that the King identified as a darkweaver, a native of Limbo that though sentient no one had bothered giving another name for. Apparently the things drank the pain of their victims as they devoured their flesh.
Part of Renly was impressed that his unwitting progenitor could slay such a thing, another part of him worried what he would even say. You don't belong here. Your life is a lie...The irony was almost enough to choke him.
How do you explain the situation to Renly?
[] Write in
OOC: If it weren't late I might be tempted to roll through this, but it is a pretty tough situation. Bonuses from a good write-in definitely wouldn't hurt.
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Goldfish
Friendly Spider-Fish Abomination
- Location
- Formerly of the Far Realm
Errantry's End
Ninth Day of the Fourth Month 294 AC
This was not how Renly Storm had expected the quest to find his maker and his mirror to end. After more than a week of chasing what felt like mist and shadows, after months of questioning leads, sometimes fighting, sometimes killing at the behest of strange fey with stranger purposes... What did he have to show for it? A bloody sword, a glib tongue, and a color he had shared with the king. A prisoner had talked and now they walked through the roiling mists of Limbo, where the true Renly Baratheon was fighting imagined terrors. He wondered if it would have been wiser not to ask, not to search at all. At least then he would not have known for certain that he was a discarded toy in the quest to make a counterfeit hero.
"You know you could call these wings I bear right now fake," Princess Daenerys said, her gaze catching his with insight befitting her current angelic seeming. "I can still fly with them fine. We are all made with magic as much as flesh, and as for being made with a purpose, well..." she pointed at one of the dark dragons circling above where the sky might be were this a realm where heaven and earth were parted. "They were made with a purpose, too; to serve as spies, diplomats, sorcerers, and soldiers. Even Viserys and I cannot say we were not born without a purpose. The realm must have an heir and a spare, after all." Her tone took on a punctilious drawl that drew an unwitting smile from Renly. "And it's not even just nobles. How many a peasant farmer has not looked on a babe in his cradle and seen another hand for the fields? The seeming purposes others give us before we are born do not define us unless we let them. You are not a stand in..."
"And even if you once were, the play's been canceled," the king finished with cold satisfaction.
Renly struggled to keep back a shiver as he shifted in the saddle. He knew the words had not been meant for him, but the reminder of how far King Viserys was willing to go to fight a war, or rather not to fight a war he thought he could not afford, were chilling to contemplate. "I think we are getting close."
They were not in fact. It was another few hours of riding through the mist, past great panes of crystal that flowed like water, and flowers forged of smoke and fading music, before the mist parted to reveal a landscape shocking in its bucolic ordinariness. There were roiling hills dotted with herds of grazing sheep, cut here and there by streams that flowed on towards a sea that did not exist. Looking behind them, Renly was startled to see that the mists they had just emerged from now looked to be as far as the horizon blending into the heavy clouds above.
"There is a town to the south," on the of the dragons called out silently from above. "Likely the best place to ask for this Renly Once-Prince. This corner of Limbo is only so large, so any part of it wrought in such detail and inhabited besides must be of some note."
After taking to the sky himself, though not in dragon form, the king confirmed, "It's a reflection of Bronzegate as it would have been two thousand years ago, a hillfort of the First Men surrounded by homes and shops that took shelter in its shadow."
"Are the people here aware?" Renly asked, not trusting his voice to say more.
"As far as we were able to discern, yes, they are sentient," the same mind dragon replied gently. I should learn their names, the young knight vowed. He had been too focused on himself these past hours and failed to show courtesy to his traveling companions.
As they passed a cart on the road, the princess' eyes grew distant with witch-sight than widened in shock. "I think they are petitioners," she whispered urgently, though likely she need not have bothered. Not many Stormlander smallfolk had cause to speak High Valyrian, after all. "Some souls do end up in Limbo and if you are going to put on this sort of mummers play, human souls would play the people most convincingly... especially if they didn't know they were playing."
To tell the truth, Renly was not wholly comfortable with kidnapping the next traveler they spotted on the road to check that, even if they did set him on his way none the wiser after altering his memory of the encounter. Yet the implications were most concerning...
"There really are monsters attacking this place from the mists, the rest of Limbo," the king mused, "so when Renly's playing at being a hero, he plays in earnest and for real stakes."
The local rumor mill was hardly quiet on Ser Renard. Most recently he and his fellows, bold knights all, had slain a many-tentacled horror from the sea, a creature that the king identified as a darkweaver, a native of Limbo that, though sentient, no one had bothered giving another name for. Apparently, the things drank the pain of their victims as they devoured their flesh.
Part of Renly was impressed that his unwitting progenitor could slay such a thing, another part of him worried what he would even say. You don't belong here. Your life is a lie...The irony was almost enough to choke him.
How do you explain the situation to Renly?
[] Write in
OOC: If it weren't late I might be tempted to roll though this, but it is a pretty though situation. Bonuses from a good write in definitely wouldn't hurt. Not yet edited.
Goldfish
Friendly Spider-Fish Abomination
- Location
- Formerly of the Far Realm
Wouldn't it be neat if some of those Petitioners were worshipers of the Earth Mother or Sky Father? If they were nabbed long enough ago as part of Fey shenanigans, it is quite possible they are adherents of an older faith.
- Location
- United States
The more we investigate the more rot and maggots we find squirming in the earth. I hope to god the Wild Hunt is successful in running down the Indigo Court for us.
If there were could we bring them back to life.
- Location
- United States
We could, but it's largely pointless. We'd be spending IM to bring back commoners. I mean if there's the odd runesmith or what have you I'm down. PCs too.
- Location
- Texas
- Pronouns
- He/Him
I bet there's going to be a powerful monster that will wake up once Original!Renly starts leaving. Almost certainly programmed to kill the innocents. There is no way Nairos and his co-conspirators would make it this easy.
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Goldfish
Friendly Spider-Fish Abomination
- Location
- Formerly of the Far Realm
I was more interested in helping them along to rejoin their gods, if they desired.
After all, Petitioners are often transformed into Outsiders by their gods, and that is something we could probably help power with a bit of larder bait.
- Location
- Argentina
Well, Lya could certainly learn a lot from watching that.
Gosh, it seems like we are never getting to the point of crafting the deity.
Good night guys, see you tomorrow as be deal with the fantasy Matrix.
egoo
Totally Not Creating Problems Where None Existed
- Location
- Russia
So, uh, how we break this out to him?
Bottom line, even if we successfully convince the guy, he's unlikely to want to leave the place to be eaten by the Limbo's natural predators.
All the petitioners stuck here because the Planes are fucked, they gon' die once T!Renly goes away, if not immediately.
And that's assuming there are no further traps set by Fey to ensure whoever grabs Renly doesn't get to get away cleanly, like the abovementioned "a Gaiju awakening"-scenario, or something.
This place is a shitshow, CoS in general were a shitshow.
Good work with that "actual plans and schemes in the background"-thing, @DragonParadox.
CoS may be essentially dead now, but such reveals really amp up the understanding of how fucking awful it all could've been, and how inhuman these things are.
@DragonParadox, from a quick glance, how many souls can we assume to be around this batch of Limbo?
Bottom line, even if we successfully convince the guy, he's unlikely to want to leave the place to be eaten by the Limbo's natural predators.
All the petitioners stuck here because the Planes are fucked, they gon' die once T!Renly goes away, if not immediately.
And that's assuming there are no further traps set by Fey to ensure whoever grabs Renly doesn't get to get away cleanly, like the abovementioned "a Gaiju awakening"-scenario, or something.
This place is a shitshow, CoS in general were a shitshow.
Good work with that "actual plans and schemes in the background"-thing, @DragonParadox.
CoS may be essentially dead now, but such reveals really amp up the understanding of how fucking awful it all could've been, and how inhuman these things are.
@DragonParadox, from a quick glance, how many souls can we assume to be around this batch of Limbo?
30,000-50,000. The low end estimation assumes they only eat what's on available farmland, the high end assumes magical tricks built into the place that people are conditioned not to notice.
Once we determine how to stop Renly's ascension to magical smart bomb is there a reason to take him from this place? It seems more or less like a real afterlife, and it does seem to need protecting. We could just play the part of diplomats and traders from a foreign land and use the beachhead to keep an eye on Renly and exploit limbo from.
- Location
- Germany
Given bronze age population densities, that would be a huge area with multiple keeps and hub areas.
- Location
- Argentina
Or we could loot it for our own afterlife...
It's supposed to be the iron age, the middle of the Andal Invasions, that said yes there are multiple keeps. You can't really be a Knight Errant without room to wander between keeps. That said I may have overstated the populations off the cuff. I'll look up the relevant numbers again in the morning.
- Location
- Germany
If we want to
Goldfish
Friendly Spider-Fish Abomination
- Location
- Formerly of the Far Realm
I wonder if this place might not be the remains of a Divine Realm, perhaps one snagged from a dying or faded god before it could dissolve? Earth Mother and/or Sky Father seems very likely.
I don't think a faction of the Court of Stars, or even the whole Court, could stabilize such a massive area of Limbo, and certainly not on short notice. It's a major effort for the Githzerai to keep their small patches of Limbo stable, and they've been at it for millennia.
Y'all think we might be able to steal this place?
- Location
- Texas
- Pronouns
- He/Him
I wonder if we can loot Original!Renly's companions too.