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

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TonedMite said:
One the one hand, it feels slow, but on the other hand, I understand that there is so fucking much that has to happen onscreen, especially right now after we have just grown our kingdom in size by... about how much again? I'm pretty sure that Westeros is pretty large by land area, but if I remember correctly much smaller than some of our other holdings by population.
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Westeros has over 40 million people. It is deffinitly not underpopulated outside parts of the North... well OK most of the North. But other than that there is more lived in land in Westeros than your Essosi Holdings. Places like the Disputed lands were ravaged by war, the Lands of the Rhoynar cursed and abandoned, the hinterland of Mantarys still in many ways tainted by the outer edges of the Doom and let's not even speak of Sarnor and its living dead problem.

All things told Westeros get off lightly though the reawakening of magic as it did though its last moments of high magic in ages past, it fell gently into the night of forgetfulness and it was spared the tumult of other lands. There is a reason the Maesters were able to play up the 'magic is dead angle' where they would not in Essos, even Western Essos were too many scars of the old days endured.
 
DragonParadox said:
So what do you guys think of the last few updates? I know it's been slow but there is a lot of set up for next month when the politics and military reform and we can have more institutional content as well as conflicts that feel like they are between states and not just adventurers without WBL.
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I'm enjoying the lull. Lots of important foundational stuff happening, things we've been building up to for years now, but not necessarily the most exciting events.
 
Vote closed. Looks like the rats win. Let's see how Jon takes the odd company he finds himself in.
Adhoc vote count started by DragonParadox on Apr 4, 2021 at 2:07 AM, finished with 36 posts and 22 votes.
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Interlude MLI: Taking Responsibility
  • Threadmarks
    • Taking Responsibility ​

    Sixth Day of the Fifth Month 294 AC

    Many a military campaigns had been masterminded in Sorcerer's Deep, striking fear and dread into the boldest of hearts east and west of the Narrow Sea, magisters and lords, pirates and deathless spirits of the fey had all known strife and they had known ruin from the workings of the City at the Crossroads of the Worlds. Yet never had there been a campaign fought in the city itself, not since the days of Damphair, from whom it had been taken with flame and storm on dragon's wing. That changed today.

    A foe had infiltrated the city, as was often the case treachery was the cause, though this time without malice, so that she who was responsible was not banished nor put to some other punishment, but to unmake her work. "So uhm... we are here to clear out the rats and we have cats and stitched undead... the lesser sort I mean, and a pair of gaavs to command, but maybe we shouldn't trouble them."

    Jon felt pity for the girl, Lydia, truly he did. To hear her floundering like that, not least because she was obviously not the sort to flounder usually, you could tell that from the way her hair lay in intricate braids, not a single hair out of place, as though it dared not disobey and be in some untidiness. She reminded him a bit of Sansa, if Sansa was a sorceress at least, but she was clearly out of her depth with her new 'title', much less given command of hundreds of literal cats, man-smart and as prone to talk back as you would imagine cats to be if they had voice to speak like men. In Jon's eyes, the dead things that called 'spitters' were worse even than the devils she did not wish to bother, not least because though they were dead and the power of death was in them they had never been alive.

    He looked around at the rest of his companions for the task. The pale twins sat silent, their hands folded in their laps, alone of all of them unteased by the cats for they were supposed to be Greenseers in the making. That Jon could believe, all the more from watching their stillness, their chests barely seeming to move with breath as they looked not at the narrow confines of the conference room, which they had borrowed from the new-made Ministry of Magic, but at some distant thing the light of common day did not shine upon.

    "Psst... What are you waiting for, go bail her out," Ysilla Royce delivered what Jon thought was a very unladylike elbow to his ribs with the words, or at least a more painful one than was called for. She had very sharp elbows.

    "Me? Why me?" Jon asked back. He liked her, not least for calling him Snow without a hint of disdain or pity he had expected of one of her birth, but like it was just another name of the sort which there were many and strange in the city.

    "Well you are the Prince and she is the Maiden Fair, you are supposed to save her," the girl replied as Lydia stuttered on. "You do think she is fair, don't you?"

    Though Jon did his level best not to blush, though he suspected from the heat he could feel on his ears that he had been less than successful. The fact of the matter was that he was just getting to the age where girls were starting to look fair to his eye and he knew less of what to do with that than with magic, devils and dead things. "And what pray am I supposed to know about ordering a rat hunt in the sewers for things that did not exist before last month? Sam is the clever one here," Jon shot back. Though granted if Jon was at times embarrassed to be thrust into strange and teasing company, Samwell Tarly was often seeming petrified to even speak a word to any of the girls lest he give some imagined offense.

    "I think we should put the devils on guard at the mooring lines for the airforce," Joran spoke up, before Jon could decide if his compassion for Lydia was enough to justify playing into Ysilla's teasing 'tale of chivalry'. "I mean, we know the rats can't spread on ordinary ships right because there isn't enough magic outside the Deep, but there is plenty of magic on one of the Moonchasters, never mind the Dauntless."

    "Gaavs are rather dim," one of the twins spoke up distantly. "Unless you want something strangled, torn apart or taken into the sky and dropped to its death you are best served sending one of the cats in charge of other cats..."

    "Or Glyra if you had enough of her jests," the other twin finished, in that eerie way they had about them that went beyond the pale faces and gazes stained crimson.

    "I do not think we are actually in charge of the Great Gremlin," Lydia said, wincing a little at some memory. Had she actually tried to give the strange fey an order and been ignored for it? Jon wondered. "The only one who really commands her is the Princess, or the Imperator I suppose, but who in their right mind would trouble them?"

    "I can speak to Princess Daenerys about it," Jon spoke up at last, sounding more confident aloud than he did in his own head.

    "Alright, so we have plans for actually dealing with the rats themselves and not leaving any behind to bedevil the city?" Kyla Fairwind asked from beside her friend to Jon's right. "We can't just drop all the cats and spitters down there and hope for the best. We need some kind of search pattern that checks itself thoroughly and divinations from the House of Mirrors to make sure we did not miss anything." Thus saying she drew a large map of the sewage system of the city from a pouch too small to normally hold it. Magic, and not cheap magic, but then her kin are Braavosi and rich even by the measure of that city, Jon knew. "Some of those things are going to get up the drains and into people's houses so we are going to need a plan to talk to them and get them to let a in talking cat on their property. We are going to need a liaison with the Lawmen and maybe a small ad in the Imperial Times to warn people about magic multiplying rats so they don't panic if they see one."

    "Snake and Tree, why isn't she in charge is she knows so much?" Jon heard Lydia mutter, though he did not think any of the others save perhaps the twins caught it.

    Well, because she did not unleash a plague of magic rats now did she? Jon bit his lip against saying. Setting aright what errors you had made yourself was that part of lordship that none could afford to ignore, for without that what claim had you to power at all?

    "I'll handle the business at the docks, gremlins and all, Sam can write up the search pattern and Ladies Yisilla and Kyla can go the the Lawmen and the Times for aid in our task," Jon cut in. To his not inconsiderable surprise no one objected when he spoke and thus it was through no intent or malice of his own that Jon Snow found himself usurping the office of the new made 'Vice-Undersecretary of the Rat Catcher of Sorcerers Deep' for the brief month of its existence, before the rats were well and gone, though the companionship born of the task endured for long after.

    What next?

    [] Write in

    OOC: You guys sent over a thousand flesh-forged and undead beings to deal with an infestation of CR 1 magical beasts. I realized as soon as I tried to roll this that I could not make this any sort of combat encounter without some truly momentous diabolus ex machina so I did not, instead I rolled for organizational skill and leadership as well as how the kids would see each other depending on their stats. Sam does get a level from designing a very good rat hunting strategy.
     
    Last edited:
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    • @DragonParadox We made the kids' first joint-adventure together basically an episode of The Office.

    But with magic.

    I think this is how evil overlords get overthrown... I know most adventuring parties wouldn't forgive us for that. :V
     
    I'm entirely amused with the situation they have found themselves in. At least they get to have first-hand experience with organizing and running an entire mission, very helpful considering their future jobs... well for Jon and Kyla at least.
     
    Trevor23 said:
    I'm entirely amused with the situation they have found themselves in. At least they get to have first-hand experience with organizing and running an entire mission, very helpful considering their future jobs... well for Jon and Kyla at least.
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    Ysilla is also in the Inquisition, she just does not go for the organizing part as much. she likes the puzzles and investigations and she really likes the magic, but the slow stuff tends to leave her distracted just from sheer boredom so she leaves that up to Kyla or in this case Jon. She actually likes Jon quite a lot and half the reason she was teasing him was as a distraction from what he has been going through. The other half of course is that it is fun.
     
    DragonParadox said:

    Taking Responsibility ​

    Sixth Day of the Fifth Month 294 AC

    Many a military campaigns had been masterminded in Sorcerer's Deep, striking fear and dread into the boldest of hearts east and west of the Narrow Sea. Magisters and lords, pirates and deathless spirits of the fey, had all known strife and they had known ruin from the workings of the City at the Crossroads of the Worlds. Yet never had there been a campaign fought in the city itself, not since the days of Damphair, from whom it had been taken with flame and storm on dragon's wing. That changed today.

    A foe had infiltrated the city. As was often the case, treachery was the cause, though this time without malice, so that she who was responsible was not banished nor put to some other punishment, but to unmake her work. "So, uhm... we are here to clear out the rats and we have cats and stitched undead... the lesser sort I mean, and a pair of gaavs to command, but maybe we shouldn't trouble them."

    Jon felt pity for the girl, Lydia, truly he did. To hear her floundering like that, not least because she was obviously not the sort to flounder usually. He could tell that from the way her hair lay in intricate braids, not a single hair out of place, as though it dared not disobey and be in some untidiness. She reminded him a bit of Sansa, at least if Sansa was a sorceress, but she was clearly out of her depth with her new 'title', much less given command of hundreds of literal cats, man-smart and as prone to talk back as you would imagine cats to be if they had voice to speak like men. In Jon's eyes, the dead things called 'spitters' were worse even than the devils she did not wish to bother, not least because though they were dead and the power of death was in them, they had never been alive.

    He looked around at the rest of his companions given the task. The pale twins sat silent, their hands folded in their laps, alone of all of them unteased by the cats, for they were supposed to be Greenseers in the making. That Jon could believe, all the more from watching their stillness, their chests barely seeming to move with breath as they looked not at the narrow confines of the conference room which they had borrowed from the new-made Ministry of Magic, but at some distant thing the light of common day did not shine upon.

    "Psst... What are you waiting for? Go bail her out," Ysilla Royce delivered what Jon thought was a very unladylike elbow to his ribs with her words, or at least a more painful one than was called for. She had very sharp elbows.

    "Me? Why me?" Jon asked back. He liked her, not least for calling him Snow without a hint of disdain or pity he had expected of one of her birth, but like it was just another name of the sort which there were many and strange in the city.

    "Well, you are the Prince and she is the Maiden Fair, you are supposed to save her," the girl replied as Lydia stuttered on. "You do think she is fair, don't you?"

    Although Jon did his level best not to blush, he suspected from the heat he could feel on his ears that he had been less than successful. The fact of the matter was that he was just getting to the age where girls were starting to look fair to his eye, and he knew less of what to do with that than with magic, devils, and dead things. "And what pray am I supposed to know about ordering a rat hunt in the sewers for things that did not exist before last month? Sam is the clever one here," Jon shot back. Though granted, if Jon was at times embarrassed to be thrust into strange and teasing company, Samwell Tarly was often seeming petrified to even speak a word to any of the girls lest he give some imagined offense.

    "I think we should put the devils on guard at the mooring lines for the air force," Joran spoke up before Jon could decide if his compassion for Lydia was enough to justify playing into Ysilla's teasing 'tale of chivalry'. "I mean, we know the rats can't spread on ordinary ships because there isn't enough magic outside the Deep, but there is plenty of magic on one of the Moonchasters, never mind the Dauntless."

    "Gaavs are rather dim," one of the twins spoke up distantly. "Unless you want something strangled, torn apart or taken into the sky and dropped to its death, you are best served sending one of the cats in charge of other cats..."

    "Or Glyra, if you have had enough of her jests," the other twin finished in that eerie way they had about them that went beyond the pale faces and gazes stained crimson.

    "I do not think we are actually in charge of the Great Gremlin," Lydia said, wincing a little at some memory. Had she actually tried to give the strange fey an order and been ignored for it? Jon wondered. "The only one who really commands her is the Princess, or the Imperator, I suppose, but who in their right mind would trouble them?"

    "I can speak to Princess Daenerys about it," Jon spoke up at last, sounding more confident aloud than he did in his own head.

    "Alright, so we have plans for actually dealing with the rats themselves and not leaving any behind to bedevil the city?" Kyla Fairwind asked from beside her friend to Jon's right. "We can't just drop all the cats and spitters down there and hope for the best. We need some kind of search pattern that checks itself thoroughly and divinations from the House of Mirrors to make sure we did not miss anything." She concluded then withdrew a large map of the sewage system of the city from a pouch too small to normally hold it. Magic, and not cheap magic, but then her kin are Braavosi and rich even by the measure of that city, Jon knew. "Some of those things are going to get up the drains and into people's houses, so we are going to need a plan to talk them into letting a cat enter their property. We are going to need a liaison with the Lawmen and maybe a small ad in the Imperial Times to warn people about magic multiplying rats so they don't panic if they see one."

    "Snake and Tree, why isn't she in charge if she knows so much?" Jon heard Lydia mutter, though he did not think any of the others save perhaps the twins caught it.

    Well, because she did not unleash a plague of magic rats now did she? Jon bit his lip against saying. Setting aright what errors you had made yourself was that part of lordship that none could afford to ignore, for without that what claim had you to power at all?

    "I'll handle the business at the docks, gremlins and all. Sam can write up the search pattern and ladies Ysilla and Kyla can go the the Lawmen and the Times for aid in our task," Jon cut in. To his not inconsiderable surprise, no one objected when he spoke and thus it was through no intent or malice of his own that Jon Snow found himself usurping the office of the new made 'Vice-Undersecretary of the Rat Catcher of Sorcerers Deep' for the brief month of its existence, before the rats were well and truly gone, though the companionship born of the task endured for long after.

    What next?

    [] Write in

    OOC: You guys sent over a thousand flesh-forged and undead beings to deal with an infestation of CR 1 magical beasts. I realized as soon as I tried to roll this that I could not make this any sort of combat encounter without some truly momentous diabolus ex machina so I did not, instead I rolled for organizational skill and leadership as well as how the kids would see each other depending on their stats. Sam does get a level from designing a very good rat hunting strategy.
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    Made some additional edits to the chapter, DP.
     
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