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

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[X] Reports on the infiltration of Casterly Rock and military reports on Westeros in general.
 
@Azel Why are they tormenting some random acolyte? Surely there's a book burner or plagiarist more deserving of harassment (or worse) schlepping around?
 
Crake said:
@Azel Why are they tormenting some random acolyte? Surely there's a book burner or plagiarist more deserving of harassment (or worse) schlepping around?
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Azel said:
Next chapter. He is not a random pick, which is already being hinted at here in his own thoughts.
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I'm thinking our boy Doran is going to serve as a guide, whether he wishes it or not, as his noted expertise with navigating the catacombs could prove useful for Qyburn's research.
 
@Goldfish, if Umbral Spies are easy-ish for Devils to see, we need alternatives sent to Slavers' Bay.
Shadow Cats really aren't good enough.

Is there an Undead variety we can lead-clad and send there? Something as ridiculously Hidey as Stalkers/Spies?

Umbral Stalkers are highly preferable to Spies as a matter of "what to order?" now, too.

The RA... eh, we can spare a few people. We don't really have any "must do rite naow"-actions at the moment, so we can move stuff around.
Westeros campaign's gonna rely on conventional forces rather than Companions at this rate, though.
 
egoo said:
@Goldfish, if Umbral Spies are easy-ish for Devils to see, we need alternatives sent to Slavers' Bay.
Shadow Cats really aren't good enough.

Is there an Undead variety we can lead-clad and send there? Something as ridiculously Hidey as Stalkers/Spies?

Umbral Stalkers are highly preferable to Spies as a matter of "what to order?" now, too.

The RA... eh, we can spare a few people. We don't really have any "must do rite naow"-actions at the moment, so we can move stuff around.
Westeros campaign's gonna rely on conventional forces rather than Companions at this rate, though.
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They are not really easy(ish), merely detectable, and to do it with any reasonable rate of success is going to need an exceptional mortal with a non-trivial number of points invested in their Spot skill, or a Devil who has done the same. Those don't grow in trees.

The best thing we can do in the short term is to warn our Umbral Spies of the danger. They can easily detach from their victim when they believe they may be scrutinized, then slip right back into their shadows later on.

I don't think there really is a better alternative for this kind of work than Umbral Spies. Being able to hide from literally everything short of purpose built magic items, which themselves have significant drawbacks to use, isn't exactly a common ability. They fill their niche better than anything else we can put in the field, though others, like the Shadow Cats, are also quite good at similar tasks and have advantages of their own.

Umbral Stalkers are much harder to craft, unfortunately, so we cannot field them in large numbers. On the bright side, however, the three we currently have will be joined by two more by the end of this month.
 
@DragonParadox, remember the XP.
Maybe for Slavers' Bay as well?


We are almost through with the "big" stuff.
Remaining after Azel's vote only Ymeri, Cleganebowl, and Actuon Duo's Citadel Tour.

Arguably we can skip those for later if @Azel feels like writing out more omakes, we have a lot of reports to force DP through with RAs, MAs, and state-reports (Inquisition, Scholarum, Infrastructure, etc). Even if I manage to force him to summarize harder.
 
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I can see hell sending a lot of high Spot/Listen check devils in this place if it's as crucial to their foothold on the PoB as the situation might imply. Those people might not grow on trees, but that doesn't mean Hell doesn't have a lot of those in stock.
 
Vote closed.
Adhoc vote count started by DragonParadox on Dec 16, 2020 at 3:53 PM, finished with 29 posts and 13 votes.
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Interlude CMLXIX: In the Lion's Den
  • Threadmarks
    • In the Lion's Den ​

    Twentieth Day of the Fourth Month 294 AC

    It had been longer than the count of mortal years could tell since Kesda had felt the dull ache of more than flesh or magic, the weight upon her wings. At first she had thought it was the ever present sight of rough stone vaults or the company of the dreaming dead shackled to a purpose they barely cared to consider. The name Tywin Lannister, his works and his legacy, weighed lighter than a feather upon shoulders of stitched flesh. The Emperor had asked it and so it would be done with the same unwavering stride they brought to every task save battling Those Beyond Broken Skies.

    So it was that there in the dark Kesda realized she regretted not only the brief contact of her sister carrying the weekly report, but even the company of mortals, soldiers at their arms and spies at their veiled business, even the scholars that passed through the library thinking they bore the light of discovery and reason when both had been found and pondered in the dark.

    Yet when the fury tried to summon her contempt of their presumption and folly it was oddly muted. Intellectually she had been aware that there was such a thing as too much solitude. There were tortures subtle and sublime that hinged upon it, but a mere handful of days as mortals counted time... the very idea that such a brief span of time could affect her was ludicrous. Nonetheless, here I stand. Perhaps the too-swift heartbeat of this world had infected her. Perhaps she was imply eager to see the crown she had sworn herself to revealed in full.

    Either way Kesda knew whose blood would have to be spilled to end her silent vigil. It was to the ill-fortune of Tywin Lannister that her new lord was as skilled in the shedding of blood as her last. All she had to do was map out the ways for the invasion.

    Layout of Casterly Rock

    Ringfort and Upper Halls: This is where the Lannisters and their dependents spend most of their day, it also includes the sept, the 'Stone Garden' containing the keep's Heart Tree as well as major public rooms like the feast hall. Guarded mostly by veteran red cloaks and mages of the Golden Shields stationed to protect the family, the keep is also riddled with passages leading deeper into the Rock, a times much deeper. Seven passages have been so far discovered.

    The Servant's Quarters: Containing everything from the barracks to the kitchen to workshops that serve the keep directly and the most publicly available storerooms this level will present minimal resistance to an attack. The greater danger would be one of perception since the dark and narrow passages could easily lead panicking servants to run into the swords of an attacking force. Wide scale use of magic that can fracture stone is also recommended against as many of the support structures on the next lowest levels are beginning to fray with age.

    The Halls of Bones and Gold: Sensibly containing both the bones of the dead guarded from tampering and the mundane treasures of the House this level is guarded by both simple-minded stone elementals under the command of mages and rune traps that seems to have been rediscovered or rekindled recently. It should be noted that we entered neither the 'Hall of Heroes' nor the 'Golden Gallery' as more comprehensive defenses may lie within. This is also the level of the sea caves, warded by mercenary Marid sorcerers.

    The Mines: The deepest publicly known segment of the Rock, the mines are defined by their depth and not any standard layout of rooms. This is part of the area given over to shaitan mercenaries and other genie-kin to guard, indeed the safety of the mines is the publicly given reason for their hiring. Moreover the passages here are narrow and filled with sharp and confusing turns as the miners sought to follow the seams of gold over the millennia. Praetori would struggle to pass through some of them, though fortunately the assault will not lack for ways to remove unwanted stone.

    The Deep Caverns: Half in the world of mortals half in the Realm of Stone this is a dangerous and often difficult to map realm. Lannister experimentation has made of the magic of this place almost a living thing, and one which can seemingly recognize intruders. While it is a fount of gold and lore the caverns have several hidden passages, three of which have been identified as leading to the discovered portals. The last two passages are unknown save in that they seem to require a similar number of guards.

    What next?

    [] Write in

    OOC: Almost missed getting this out because of how tired I am. Thankfully I had enough notes to pull this together and the dice where kind enough not to require me to write up a complication.
     
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  • Threadmarks
    • [X] Inquisition Reports: Realm-wide (oversized chapter rather than having them spaced out province-by-province)

    I find the way we space out reports over provinces taking unnecessarily long OOC.
    I'd rather just wait a day for one giga-chapter on the subject. Same goes for Infrastructure and Scholarums.

    And then we'd have the few Intrigue'sque actions we have remaining to get reports on, then RAs (fuck there's many), then Ymeri, Citadel and Cleganebowl, a few MAs...
    And the coronation.
     
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    DragonParadox said:
    The Servant's Quarters: Containing everything from the barracks to the kitchen to workstops that serve the keep directly and the most publicly available stored this level would present minimal resistance to an attack. The greater danger would be one of perception since the dark and narrow passages could easily lead panicking servants to run not the swords of a attacking force. Wide scale use of magic that can fracture stone is also recommended against as many of the support structures on the next lowest levels are beginning to fray with age
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    So any big Rock-destroying plan would start by killing all the servants?
    Not great. :cry:
     
    DragonParadox said:
    In the Lion's Den ​

    Twentieth Day of the Fourth Month 294 AC

    It had been longer than the count of mortal years could tell since Kesda had felt the dull ache of more than flesh or magic, the weight upon her wings. At first she had thought it was the ever present sight of rough stone vaults or the company of the dreaming dead shackled to a purpose they barely cared to consider. The name Tywin Lannister, his works and his legacy, weighed lighter than a feather upon shoulders of stitched flesh. The Emperor had asked it and so it would be done with the same unwavering stride they brought to every task save battling Those Beyond Broken Skies.

    So it was that there in the dark, Kesda realized she regretted not only the brief contact of her sister carrying the weekly report, but even the company of mortals, soldiers at their arms and spies at their veiled business, even the scholars that passed through the library thinking they bore the light of discovery and reason when both had been found and pondered in the dark.

    Yet when the fury tried to summon her contempt of their presumption and folly, it was oddly muted. Intellectually she had been aware that there was such a thing as too much solitude. There were tortures, subtle and sublime, that hinged upon it, but a mere handful of days as mortals counted time... the very idea that such a brief span of time could affect her was ludicrous. Nonetheless, here I stand. Perhaps the too-swift heartbeat of this world had infected her. Perhaps she was simply eager to see the crown she had sworn herself to revealed in full.

    Either way, Kesda knew whose blood would have to be spilled to end her silent vigil. It was to the ill fortune of Tywin Lannister that her new lord was as killed in the shedding of blood as her last. All she had to do was map out the ways for the invasion.

    Layout of Casterly Rock:

    Ring-fort and Upper Halls: This is where the Lannisters and their dependents spend most of their day. It also includes the sept, the stone garden containing the keep's Heart Tree, as well as major public rooms like the feast hall. Guarded mostly by veteran red cloaks and mages of the Golden Shields stationed to protect the family, the keep is also riddled with passages leading deeper into the Rock, at times much deeper. Seven passages have been discovered so far.

    The Servant's Quarters: Containing everything from the barracks to the kitchen to workstops that serve the keep directly and the most publicly available, this level would present minimal resistance to an attack. The greater danger would be one of perception, since the dark and narrow passages could easily lead panicking servants to run not the swords of an attacking force. Wide-scale use of magic that can fracture stone is also recommended against, as many of the support structures on the next lowest levels are beginning to fray with age.

    The Halls of Bones and Gold: Sensibly containing both the bones of the dead to guard from tampering and the mundane treasures of the House, this level is guarded by both simple-minded stone elementals under the command of mages and rune traps that seems to have been rediscovered or rekindled recently. It should be noted that we entered neither the 'Hall of Heroes' nor the 'Golden Gallery', and more comprehensive defenses may lie within.

    The Mines: The deepest publicly known segment of the Rock, the mines are defined by their depth rather than any standard layout of rooms. This is part of the area given over to shaitan mercenaries and other genie-kin to guard, indeed the safety of the mines is the publicly given reason for their hiring. Moreover, the passages here are narrow and filled with sharp and confusing turns as the miners sought to follow the seams of gold. Praetori would struggle to pass through some of them, though fortunately the assault will not lack for ways to remove unwanted stone.

    The Deep Caverns: Half in the world of mortals and half in the Realm of Stone, this is a dangerous and often difficult to map realm. Lannister experimentation has made of the magic of this place almost a living thing and one which can seemingly recognize intruders. While it is a fount of gold and lore, the caverns have several hidden passages, three of which have been identified as leading to the discovered portals. the last two passages are unknown, save in that they seem to require a similar number of guards.

    What next?

    [] Write in

    OOC: Almost missed getting this out because of how tired I am. Thankfully, I had enough notes to pull this together and the dice were kind enough not to require me to write up a complication. Not yet edited.
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    Here's an edited version of the chapter, DP.
     
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