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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 Dec 9, 2020 at 1:54 PM, finished with 45 posts and 21 votes.
  • [X] Plan Sorting Out All The Tullys
    -[X] Let Rhealla personally deliver your reply, that you accept his words and oaths in the spirit they are given. (That is, we both know he is on a sinking and grasping for straws.) He will also be formally and cordially be invited to your coronation.
    -[X] You will stick with the intended lessening of the Tullys rank to mere Counts of Riverrun and the formal dissolution of the Riverlands. However, the Tullys will be entered into consideration for the Golden Mountains ducal title, if all Westerlander nobles in the area prove themselves less sensible then Hoster.
    -[X] Have Rhealla suggest to him that it might be good to move Lysa and her son out of the Vale, given the unrest there and the imminent succession war over the defunct Arryn main line. There are credible threats by some of the factions on her and her sons life. Offer him your aid in transporting her safely to Riverrun, Winterfell or any other place that he deems safe for her. (This will ensure he knows where you stand on the matter of that succession, namely that it would be in his best interests to disentangle his daughter and grandson from this and pretend really hard that all of that has nothing to do with his family.)
    --[X] Obviously, you have not the foggiest idea that Edmure is currently travelling there. Why would you? It's not as if you keep tabs on the Tullys with malicious intent or something.
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Crake said:
All I want y'all to put together, is a replacement for losses suffered from the last attack. If no one has any ideas for improvements, that's fine. I'm sure the Illithid will come back with an optimized force if we do nothing, but well, that's future us' problem.
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Okay, tell me how much money we can readily allocate to making anti-squid defenses and I'll get on that.
Bottom line, we can make decent enough meatshield-lines over all our aquatically-attackable cities that'll at the very least slow down a dedicated attack force enough for our PCs to get there.

...as such making squids choose different tactics, but fucked I'll be if I could think up prevention methods to all forms of attack on us.

Otherwise, I'm out of good ideas for defending against the Squids.
I guess we should also make a fuckload more forces to attack them with.
 
Though tbh I see little point in even trying to defend any of the locations more, sans maybe Gogossos and Lys.
We are too spread-out to fight the Squids well on the defensive.
Worse even when Westeros is taken into account.
 
egoo said:
Okay, tell me how much money we can readily allocate to making anti-squid defenses and I'll get on that.
Bottom line, we can make decent enough meatshield-lines over all our aquatically-attackable cities that'll at the very least slow down a dedicated attack force enough for our PCs to get there.

...as such making squids choose different tactics, but fucked I'll be if I could think up prevention methods to all forms of attack on us.

Otherwise, I'm out of good ideas for defending against the Squids.
I guess we should also make a fuckload more forces to attack them with.
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Literally only requesting a replacement of destroyed undead. If I had idea of what more to add, I'd have suggested it.
 
egoo said:
Though tbh I see little point in even trying to defend any of the locations more, sans maybe Gogossos and Lys.
We are too spread-out to fight the Squids well on the defensive.
Worse even when Westeros is taken into account.
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Because it looks weak. It means nothing to us if some peasants or even some lower nobility get eaten strategically, but people will bitch and moan about it when we can definitely shell out to make the calculus of trying to do so not so yummy.
 
Crake said:
Literally only requesting a replacement of destroyed undead. If I had idea of what more to add, I'd have suggested it.
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What caused me to ask for allocatable pricing:
Crake said:
If no one has any ideas for improvements, that's fine. I'm sure the Illithid will come back with an optimized force if we do nothing
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Crake said:
Because it looks weak. It means nothing to us if some peasants or even some lower nobility get eaten strategically, but people will bitch and moan about it when we can definitely shell out to make the calculus of trying to do so not so yummy.
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We'll fucking die if we try to take on all of the hotspots illithids will make when they attack.
They have simply too many locations to choose from and too many forces to attack with. Even with all our PCs.

So, we'll lose some places regardless.
Better make a fuck-off stronk attacking force instead then, and try and eliminate their cities before they kill too many of our people, no?

If we don't care for a large enough sum of money, I can throw something defensive-like together.
If we can't spare 30-40+ mil IM on defenses alone, I don't think we should even bother.
 
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egoo said:
What caused me to ask for allocatable pricing:


Well fucking die if we try to take on all of the hotspots illithids will make when they attack.
They have simply too many locations to choose from and too many forces to attack with. Even with all our PCs.

So, we'll lose some places regardless.
Better make a fuck-off stronk attacking force instead then, and try and eliminate their cities before they kill too many of our people, no?

If we don't care for a large enough sum of money, I can throw something defensive-like together.
If we can't spare 30-40+ mil IM on defenses alone, I don't think we should even bother.
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I argued a couple times to make more preparations, but it was basically put off for a bad deal. Until they basically force our hands, the thread will focus on other stuff that they enjoy instead of what is gearing up to look like a brutal slog in which no one wins, least of all our wallet.

My impression is the Illithids are just going to keep poking us to see how much they can get away with, only escalating just above the level they would need to in order to get away with the thing they want to get away with. So they probe our defenses, then the next attack is just enough to deal with them. If that turns out to be the case, I'm sure folks like Goldfish and Azel will be like "naw, that ain't happening" but until it becomes apparent that is what is going on?

Nothing going to happen.
 
Winning Vote
Adhoc vote count started by DragonParadox on Dec 9, 2020 at 1:54 PM, finished with 45 posts and 21 votes.
  • [X] Plan Sorting Out All The Tullys
    -[X] Let Rhealla personally deliver your reply, that you accept his words and oaths in the spirit they are given. (That is, we both know he is on a sinking and grasping for straws.) He will also be formally and cordially be invited to your coronation.
    -[X] You will stick with the intended lessening of the Tullys rank to mere Counts of Riverrun and the formal dissolution of the Riverlands. However, the Tullys will be entered into consideration for the Golden Mountains ducal title, if all Westerlander nobles in the area prove themselves less sensible then Hoster.
    -[X] Have Rhealla suggest to him that it might be good to move Lysa and her son out of the Vale, given the unrest there and the imminent succession war over the defunct Arryn main line. There are credible threats by some of the factions on her and her sons life. Offer him your aid in transporting her safely to Riverrun, Winterfell or any other place that he deems safe for her. (This will ensure he knows where you stand on the matter of that succession, namely that it would be in his best interests to disentangle his daughter and grandson from this and pretend really hard that all of that has nothing to do with his family.)
    --[X] Obviously, you have not the foggiest idea that Edmure is currently travelling there. Why would you? It's not as if you keep tabs on the Tullys with malicious intent or something.
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Interlude CMLXIV: When Dragons Fish
  • Threadmarks
    • When Dragons Fish ​

    Tenth Day of the Fourth Month 294 AC

    In her youth Rhaella Targaryen never thought much of Hoster Tully, in the most literal sense of the word. It was not that she disliked the man over some slight or fault, she merely counted him a fixture of the realm. He performed no better than expected at dealing with the endless feud of Bracken and Blackwood, and no worse than anticipated at keeping the Kingsroad in good shape and the arteries of trade open. All that had changed when she had heard news of the Trident, how her son had died fighting among other rebellious lords Hoster Tully was looking to marry his daughters up. That was when she realized the old Lord Paramount may have been more adept than she gave him credit for, and that was when she started to hate him.

    Hate was a strange and many layered thing, the former queen knew as she donned her dress of black velvet and cloak of enchanted silk. She had hated Robert Baratheon with every fiber of her being for killing Rhaegar, for dealing the blow that broke her world and Jon Arryn for being the architect of the usurpation, but now they were both dead and beyond the reach of any mortal's hatred. She had hated Eddard Stark for being there that day, even irrationally for being the brother of the woman Rhaegar took leave of his senses with, but the Lord of Winterfell had kept Rhaegar's son alive and for that the fires of her hate had cooled, transmuted even into something like respect if not liking for the man who had been Baratheon's closest friend.

    But Hoster Tully, oh he had not been the villain of the tragedy that had claimed Rhaella's family, two men vied for that role, one still alive if not for long and one mercifully dead. But the Lord of Riverrun had been there that day at the Trident when the waters ran red and he had thought to profit from it all. As she set the arcane crown upon her brow Rhaella Targaryen did not feel the least bit merciful. Fortunately she was not to deliver merciful news.

    ***​

    The rose tea was just the way she took it, had taken it at least at court. The fire burned cheerfully in the hearth and candles lit up the study with a warm golden light, yet the man sitting before her looked pale and timeworn, his eyes bloodshot, his lips thinned with worry. Was he trying to evoke sympathy? Rhaella wondered as pleasantries and greetings were exchanged. Or was it simply a consequence of the position he now found himself in?


    "The King accepts your oaths in the spirit they were given," she began with careful emphases to leave no doubt in his mind that she spoke of the desperate straights his House found itself in. Witih a smile she added, "You are here invited to His Grace's coronation where you might present your fealty in person. As the Count of Riverrun you shall be permitted an escort of..."

    "Count?" the old lord asked, his voice growing scratchy with sudden concern. "Who then is to rule the Riverlands?"

    I might be enjoying this a touch too much, Rhaella admitted to herself, knowing too well the instincts below the music, below the magic. Pushing a touch more warmth into her expression she explained. "No one is to rule the whole of it. The time has come to mend the errors Aegon has made. The Seven Kingdoms as they are now are unwieldy and unrully lead by those who are all but kings themselves. The Rebellion has proven this cannot stand."

    For a long moment the old man looked at her. "For one so young your son is a harsh man."

    "As harsh as the years have made him," Rhaella replied. "And as practical. There will be chances for House Tully to rise in other ways in the years to come because you had the wisdom to kneel even now." Glancing at the window towards the west she added simply. "Others will not receive the privilege of doing so."

    They spoke then of other things, those every lord wished to know of: the laws of the realm, the training of sorcerers and the ways of strange gods, common enough rumors to dispel and truths to elucidate. Lord Toully bleached when she mentioned that blood sacrifice was a punishment for those who delved beyond beyond moral malfeasance, but by then he was well and truly committed. In parting she mentioned that it might be good to move his eldest daughter and her son out of the Vale, given the unrest there and the imminent succession war over the defunct Arryn main line. "We are of course willing to carry the two of them to wherever you may deem safe, be that Winterfell, here in Riverrun or elsewhere."

    Hoster Tully looked for a moment like he had just eaten an exemplar of his House seal after it had sat too long in the sun, but hs swallowed his objections and thanked her for the offer, choosing Riverrun.

    What next?

    [] Write in

    OOC: It's been a long time since we had an Rahella interlude and I felt Hoster deserved to have this scene on screen given that he is a major lord (for now at least).
     
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  • Threadmarks
    • If anyone hoped that Rhaella would soften the blow to Tully...

    Though I'm sure Azel knew exactly what would come from this talk.
     
    EDIT:
    [X] Send Tyenne and Rhealla to pick up Edmure on the road and then teleport to the Eyri to pick up Lisa Tully and her son Robert. Convince her that leaving would be best for herself and especially her son, and that Hoster wants her to come back to Riverrun.
    -[X] If she objects to going to Riverrun on Hosters order, offer her refuge in the Deep for the time being, so that they can sort out their relationship in peace. Also include an offer to have your mages look into her sons health, should there still be concerns that need addressing. (They have not exactly a healthy relationship, so odds are she might refuse, but the important part is that she learns that there will be no support coming from Riverrun.)
    -[X] Also offer her son the chance at a good education in the Deep once he is old enough, regardless of here going there or to Riverrun. He will have the chance to follow his dreams and forge his own path in life, instead of being a plaything of politics as the infant regent of people who want to see him dead as devil spawn. (Given her own backstory, offering her and her son freedom and protection should make it very easy for her to abandon the Eyri.)

    [X] Send messages to Darry, the Twins, the Lads and all other concerned parties in the Riverlands. Count Hoster Tully has bent the knee, preferring to not garnish his defeat by a massacre on the field of battle.
    -[X] Reassure all Riverlander lords that thus agreements made with them stand as they were made in regards to shifting of borders and titles.
    -[X] Also send some food and booze to the Lads and the Frey armsmen who have been "hunting" them for the last few months, so that they can have a proper feast on the day of your coronation. This is absolutely not a victory meal for a guerrilla war they have been fighting under your orders and everyone suggesting such is a liar.
    -[X] For their role in all of this, the Lads will receive 6 months of Legionnaire pay for services rendered, while the leadership (Benjicot, Tom Sevenstrings, etc.) can either look forwards to gainful employment in SD or a retirement package of their choosing (minor titles, private estates, simple cash payout, etc.)

    [X] Adventure/Combat Reports (dated the end of the 4th month):
    -[X] Summarisation is highly preferable.
    -[X] Sarnori Pacification -- Continuation: The Void-touched Olethrodaemon that regulated much of the proceedings among the Undead of Sarnor may be gone now, but too much of its accursed legacy still lies in that land. Have your agents scour the lands, working with agents of the allied Sarnori Kingdoms, to end the Mindless Undead still in the area, and to, perhaps, seek out any Sentient Undead who hide still in the wake of the sound defeat of the corrupt hosts but two months ago.
    ----[X] Nettles & Sheepstealer (Level 12); 1x Adult Mind Dragon (CR 15), 1x Very Old Myrkdreki Dragon (CR 15), 11x Veteran Erynies, 11x Lejnths, 5x Verdant Phoenixes (CR 15), 50x Verdant Kingfishers, 10x Verdant Ravens (CR 6), 2x Wild Hunt Archers (CR 14), 2x Wild Hunt Scouts (CR 16), 8x Praetori Squads (Total of 72 Praetori and 8 Light Warstriders deployed.)

    -[X] Operation Pest Control MK II: Send forces to the apparently shut entrance to the Underdark you found in Sothoryos. Have them scout the tunnel system, confirm that it is sealed, try to eliminate all pests within and finally retrieve the bodies of the slain mages for a Chain Resurrection. The expedition will be equipped with a set of Titan's Tools which they can use to more thoroughly seal any passages they locate, or for any other uses which may present themselves, along with a Wayfinder for navigation and investigation.
    ----[X] 1x Adult Mind Dragons (CR 15), 5x Necro Kraken with Greater Bloodclot Molds, 50x Black Knight with Mobility Upgrade, 200x Spitters, 1x Herald (CR 10) w/3x Elemental Wyrmlings (Fire) for support, 5x Guardian Nagas (CR 10), 4x Plant-Imbued Shadow Creature Cat (w/+4 Racial HD) (CR 6, 6 HD), 4x Mushroom Golems (CR 10), 5x Advanced Sorcerer Creature Snapdragon Leshy, 20x Watchmoles (CR 6), 20x Praetori Squad (180 Praetori total)

    -[X] Quizzing the Quickling: The Quickling ganglord that escaped the Misfits in King's Landing is but the final tale to tie now, with some support from your other Minions, now.
    ----[X] the Misfits, Darkstar, Kennos, Thoros, Mors, Bonifer, Velen

    -[X] The Hill Fey Chose to Die On: The location of the former main stronghold of the COurt of Stars is of interest to you as a future outpost into the Feywild. Protecting it from an opportunistic takeover by any locals is but good sense now.
    ----[X] 1x Wild Hunt Scout (CR 16), 2x Wild Hunt Archers (CR 14), 5x Heralds (CR 10), 10x Watchmoles (CR 6), 7x Vigilant Briars (CR 4), 100x Verdant Kingfishers, 10x Verdant Ravens, 50x Plant-Imbued Shadow Creature Cat (CR 6) 1x Verdant Phoenix (CR 15), 5x Advanced Sorcerer Creature Snapdragon Leshy (CR 10), 5x Guardian Nagas (CR 10), 10x Black Champions (CR 15), 200x Black Knights (Mobility Upgrade), 500x Spitter Swarms (buried around the location), 5x Praetori Squads (Total of 45 Praetori deployed).

    -[X] Scouting the Neck: Send some people to investigate the situation in the Neck, which Fey there are and how they are aligned in the wider Fey politics. Take special note of any information relevant to the movement of large armies, such as a potential host from the North trying to march through the Neck to the Riverlands.
    (Progress: 7/18)
    ----[X] Valaena Velaryon (Level 9 Magus), Soft Strider (Level 7), Jeyne Weaver (Level 6), Ser Roger 'Reyne' (Level 5), 1x Herald, 1x Verdant Phoenix (CR 15), 3x Vigilant Briars (CR 4), 3x Verdant Ravens (CR 6), 2x Praetori Squads (Total of 16 Praetori and 2 Light Warstriders deployed.)

    Remaining 3 other adventures/combats we aren't seeing with these reports are Ymeri, Cleganebowl, and the Action Duo taking on the Citadel. Because need on-screen show and we lack lead-up interludes for Ymeri and AD.
     
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    @DragonParadox Did Hoster get his cancer cured?

    I guess he can petition the Scholarum for a healer capable of curing that when he falls under, though I would have expected him to find a healer to fix his general aches and pains by now.
     
    Rhaella doesn't pull her punches, and I'm here for it.

    DragonParadox said:
    She had hated Robert Baratheon with every fiber of her being for killing Rhaegar, for dealing the blow that broke her world and Jon Aryn for being the architect of the usurpation, but now they were both dead and beyond the reach of any mortal's hatred.
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    On another note, why is she still thinking like a mortal? Just because they're dead isn't a reason to stop hating them! Qyburn is right there, and we can surely find their bones if we try! Calling forth their soul into a twisted, ever-suffering undead horror is entirely without our power, even if we don't feel like hunting down their souls through their many possible afterlives!
     
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