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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] Countess of the Fingers

Azel's reasoning is good, plus she can point out to suitors that she has more than enough Fingers for now, she doesn't need to take more in marriage (get it because you take a hand in marriage and a hand has fingers aha I'm not very clever) :V
 
DragonParadox said:
More than a Duty ​

Twelfth Day of the Fifth Month 294 AC

Rhaella was more glad of her confirmation as Minister than she let on. A soft sigh unheard by any accompanying the opening of the scroll delivered by her son's familiar, already flying off on some other, more urgent matter. She had not been expecting to find her awake at this hour, else doubtless Viserys would have come himself with the news, but she had been sitting up late and half-pretending to work. Getting briefs ready for her potential successor. Really, you could not be too prepared, or so she told herself. Truth be told, she had been dreading the announcement that her services were no longer needed or that she would merely be an envoy when certain lords or princes asked to deal only with those of royal blood. Over the past year, Rhaella had gotten a taste for power that did not come just because of her name or her lineage, but because of what one did with those advantages of blood.

She set the papers aside with an unneeded shuffle before calling out to the lar, the unseen spirits of the palace that were not quite fey and not quite elementals, but something in between from a time when the world was young. "I won't be needing these anymore."

A slow, graceful, almost dignified breeze picked up the documents. Could a breeze be graceful? she wondered idly. They would get burned and the ashes composted, not only as a small way to get some use out of what would otherwise be just trash, but to make sure that no one would be able to read what was in the destroyed documents. Rhaella knew of no ritual that could be woven upon a decorative fern to spit out the papers its roots had greedily devoured.

Now what am I do to with myself? It was late, but she did not need to sleep and she felt much too light on her feet to seek out a book and a quiet nook to enjoy it.

As though in answer to her question, a soft knock could be heard at the outer door of her chambers, though ears less sharp might have missed it.

"Open," she called out in draconic and the small enchantment on the door lock gave way at once. Anyone looking for her at this late an hour probably had serious business that could not wait, though it could not be Daenerys for she would have just opened her own way through and not bothered with locks. That is if she did not just fly through the window.

She was surprised, but not displeased, to see Valaena step through. The young dragonrider was wearing her armor, which was not remarkable, though she was not wearing a glamor over it, which was. "Your Grace, my apologies for coming at this hour..." the girl began.

"I was not sleeping nor was I busy, and the hour matters little when magic can lift the weariness from one's shoulders," the former queen replied with a smile that welcomed confidences. "Let us assume you gave all the bows that courtesy requires and come to the matter at hand for you would not be here for little reason, that I know for certain. "

"My father got a drawer full of letters and an entrance room filled with messengers asking for my hand in marriage today. Well... alright, a few of them asked permission to court me rather than being explicit on the marriage front, but it comes down to the same thing. They want to marry me and I imagine they want to marry Dawnfyre also to their house fortunes. The pledges came down from Prince Quentin of Dorne to one of my Celtigar's cousins. Father can't just toss them all out on their ear, but well... I find I have no desire to wed for some time yet, at least until I have seen the other side of a quarter century of life as the old Valyrians put it, but I do not wish to come off as proud or filled with foreign airs..."

And your mother would call it just that if you went to her with your concerns, the former queen thought. As one wedded young, and unhappily so, she could think of far more reasons than most on why a young woman of Valaena's years would wish to remain unbound. "Tell your father to dismiss those whom could be safely dismissed by other reasons and then ask the others to wait a while..."

"'A while?'" Valaena asked, confused as much as hopeful. "What good would that do? They have days to spare, weeks and months even."

This was going to be a bit delicate since she did not know anything for certain, but the hints she had gotten from Viserys were quite telling... "Let us say I much suspect that soon enough you should have a title to your name other than dragonrider and cause to dismiss your own suitors from too swift consideration."

"Oh..." A smile bloomed on the girl's face as she considered the implications. "Thank you, Your Grace. I shall await news from the throne and not throw myself into any too hasty adventure."

Adventure... Rhaella snorted inwardly at the word. Times were that an unexpected courtship was the only sort of adventure a young woman of high birth could hope to have. Now she imagined that Valaena Velaryon would have quite a few others of the proper sort before any should happen to capture her heart.

OOC: A small interlude so we can have a bit of a breather between just pure interviews for minister,. Also, a reminder that you guys wanted to give Valaena some land. You can vote on that now if you want.
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Made a few additional edits to the chapter, DP.

Political marriages won't be going away any time soon, but I imagine their prevalence in Westeros is going to begin decreasing quite a bit in years to come. Hopefully, it won't be too long before people realize that their first mistake would have been bypassing the powerful mage and Dragonlord to communicate directly with her parents on this matter. Cultural sea change, here we come.
 
[X] Countess of the Giant's Lance, with seat being Heart's Home (formerly Corbray) (under Duke Yon Royce)

I like this location and it would be pretty nice for a Dragonlord to call home, IMO. Yohn is a pretty chill dude, too, and likely to be one of the better options for Valaena as far as overlords go.
 
[X] Countess of the Giant's Lance, with seat being Heart's Home (formerly Corbray) (under Duke Yon Royce)

Watch as 2 decades later, she'll sadle back with a rebellious Efreeti young Nobleman. Shotgun marriage-is-a-go!
 
@DragonParadox What did these people expect to happen?

Hello, I would like to marry your daughter. Meet her? Oh I mean, when we're about to marry. She's a Dragonrider and a Mage? Weird hobby, but it's mostly the dragon I'm interested in, she can come too. She'll have to stay around my lands and look pretty / fly her dragon where I want her to. That whole 'adventuring' nonsense I hear she got up to has to end, too.

I mean... there's easier ways to earn public embarrassment than the scorn and mockery of a woman who has prospects. And pretty obvious ones. Even some women in Westeros had significant say in who they married before the age of magic. Quite a few who had parents who cared about them being able to make the marriage work in the long term.
 
Crake said:
@DragonParadox What did these people expect to happen?

Hello, I would like to marry your daughter. Meet her? Oh I mean, when we're about to marry. She's a Dragonrider and a Mage? Weird hobby, but it's mostly the dragon I'm interested in, she can come too. She'll have to stay around my lands and look pretty / fly her dragon where I want her to. That whole 'adventuring' nonsense I hear she got up to has to end, too.

I mean... there's easier ways to earn public embarrassment than the scorn and mockery of a woman who has prospects. And pretty obvious ones. Even some women in Westeros had significant say in who they married before the age of magic. Quite a few who had parents who cared about them being able to make the marriage work in the long term.
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They were not all as blunt as that. Doran asked just about courtship for instance and he did not say anything about adventuring one way or another. It is worth keeping in mind that what you are hearing is from the perspective of a somewhat frustrated Valaena. She is lumping things that did sound like the above with much more subtle offers.
 
DragonParadox said:
They were not all as blunt as that. Doran asked just about courtship for instance and he did not say anything about adventuring one way or another. It is worth keeping in mind that what you are hearing is from the perspective of a somewhat frustrated Valaena. She is lumping things that did sound like the above with much more subtle offers.
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Translation: Doran will be really grateful to some Reacher or Valeman twat who has all the tact of a cauliflower.
 
To be fair Doran trying to poach one of the brightest stars of the new generation for his region is just good politics and he probably wants her to continue the adventure train as well
 
Buttercup: "I would like to put my bid in for the lady's hand!"

*scandalized gasp*

Viserys: "... don't you seem familiar?"

Buttercup: "No more so than Lord Cauliflower, Your Majestic-ness."

Valaena: :rolleyes2:

Viserys: "Well, it would make the lads try harder in their courtship games."

Valaena: "I'm afraid, Master Bard, that I'll have to decline. If you'd like to court Dawnfyre's heart, you are welcome to try however."

Buttercup: "Alas, the fair maid has a temper a tad too fiery for my taste."

Viserys: "Ah, I see, opening up your dragon to direct suits... considering the motives of some of these assholes, that should shave off a handful of bids and get them off your door step."

Valaena: "Or leave of them there but as piles of ash?"

Viserys: "Pretty much, yeah."
 
Buttercup and Viserys are the same person! You've never seen them on the same room. It's's a conspiracy y'all!

*Looks at Crake's proposal scene

You're just reading it! They're not speaking at them same time, Viserys is speaking both their lines!

[X] The Bridge and the Midtown connecting SD and Lys.

Our bridges are too long that we planned to have towns in the middle of the long ones so that travellers have places to rest. That would be an ideal fief for one who could fly.
 
Takesis said:
Buttercup and Viserys are the same person! You've never seen them on the same room. It's's a conspiracy y'all!

*Looks at Crake's proposal scene

You're just reading it! They're not speaking at them same time, Viserys is speaking both their lines!

[X] The Bridge and the Midtown connecting SD and Lys.

Our bridges are too long that we planned to have towns in the middle of the long ones so that travellers have places to rest. That would be an ideal fief for one who could fly.
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Come to think of it, where is Varys in this scene? Suspicious, hm?
 
Vote closed and... well you know the drill by now.
Adhoc vote count started by DragonParadox on Apr 15, 2021 at 9:29 AM, finished with 46 posts and 12 votes.
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