Remove ads

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

Reader mode
I have abandoned many projects @Azel, and it wasn't really personally calling you out. You do just happen to fit the label of a person who is clearly educated and also observant, but who unfortunately maybe has more than one "high depth" concepts you let wither and haven't picked up again yet, or maybe ever.

I on the other hand am just slightly more well-read on average and enthusiastic for high depth concepts when I can find the time to read them, and I understand what that depth is going for. But I lack on breadth specifically because I count a good work as one with sufficient depth, and lack the ability to really give my own work that depth because I lack the time to properly research my concept.

I think what I write is typically 'passable' and can be really great when what I'm choosing cares more for the particulars of the characters' circumstances and what it's like to be them, as opposed to what led to those circumstances in the first place, which requires zooming out far more than is typical for most writers, I'd say.

Rarely though, I've noticed there are some writers out there who have both breadth and depth to their concepts, but I can't for the life of me say if that's a good thing or not. I do notice I universally weight consistency (grammar, characterization, plot and conflict, really just the roughest mechanical skills to writing) as being better to have in stock than having done several essays on the subject as opposed to having merely a surface level understanding of the subject.

I'm not anti-intellectual, I just don't have the time to be one.
 
Crake said:
I have abandoned many projects @Azel, and it wasn't really personally calling you out. You do just happen to fit the label of a person who is clearly educated and also observant, but who unfortunately maybe has more than one "high depth" concepts you let wither and haven't picked up again yet, or maybe ever.
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...
Well. Yeah. Which is why I feel called out.

Especially since that very thing annoys me to no end, but at the same time I don't really feel that I can or even should pick up those abandoned concepts again. They got abandoned for a reason after all.
 
Azel said:
Well. Yeah. Which is why I feel called out.

Especially since that very thing annoys me to no end, but at the same time I don't really feel that I can or even should pick up those abandoned concepts again. They got abandoned for a reason after all.
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...
This is the part where I'd ordinarily say maybe pick something that you have such out-sized enthusiasm for that maybe it wouldn't matter if there was a couple obstacles persistently getting in the way every now and then, but that has its own set of problems, and the whole thing about writing is vastly more complicated, maybe even over-complicated, by having the entire thing be an interactive exercise relying on other people's contributions, even if that's just investment of emotional and mental energy to really get the most out of the effort you pour into a work.

That's another thing about quests, if you're a high depth writer, you will never, ever, ever get breadth into the project unless you hand select a group of people who are just as into the subject as you are. Quests are more about dealing with a disparate group of people with different interests, backgrounds and levels of dedication who come around to give stage directions at certain points even if you have most things planned out already.

Maybe make your next project non-interactive?
 
Crake said:
This is the part where I'd ordinarily say maybe pick something that you have such out-sized enthusiasm for that maybe it wouldn't matter if there was a couple obstacles persistently getting in the way every now and then, but that has its own set of problems, and the whole thing about writing is vastly more complicated, maybe even over-complicated, by having the entire thing be an interactive exercise relying on other people's contributions, even if that's just investment of emotional and mental energy to really get the most out of the effort you pour into a work.

That's another thing about quests, if you're a high depth writer, you will never, ever, ever get breadth into the project unless you hand select a group of people who are just as into the subject as you are. Quests are more about dealing with a disparate group of people with different interests, backgrounds and levels of dedication who come around to give stage directions at certain points even if you have most things planned out already.

Maybe make your next project non-interactive?
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...
That was not the question I asked and why is everyone answering that question the same way?
 
Winning Vote
Adhoc vote count started by DragonParadox on Apr 24, 2021 at 2:06 PM, finished with 67 posts and 13 votes.
Click to expand...
 
Crake said:
Oh... well... lack of understanding? Sorry? 😔
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...
No. It's just... I did not ask that, yet you identified it as a problem with my writing and advocated the same solution as every single person who I ever did ask that question.

It's just... I... argh!?

At this point, it's hard to deny that at the very least it is highly likely that this is the correct solution for my troubles, and yet at the same time, I was unable to put that into practice for years by now.

So I'd like to take 5 minutes and scream into the void.
 
Remove ads
Part MMMDCCLXXIII: In the Scales of Empire
  • Threadmarks
    • In the Scales of Empire ​

    Eighteenth Day of the Fifth Month 294 AC

    You sigh... this again. Well to be fair he is not accusing you of wanting to harm his children, only a father worried as to the fate of his daughters and son, and if ever unreasonable fears loom blackest they are upon a man at the foot of the gallows. "The Imperium does not punish children for the deeds of their parents. Your children will become wards of the state and be treated with all the care and compassion this implies." You cannot quite keep the exasperation off your tongue entirely. "We are not barbarians after all."

    Softly, so softly you doubt other ears than yours in the whole of the throne room caught it, Tywin Lannister curses bitterly and you do not think it is at your last dig. With Lanna's and Gerion's admission of guilt the last of his family have abandoned him and there can be no more hope that others have not, for had he not bound them to him with chains of magic?

    Tywin Lannister looks old for the first time since you have laid eyes on him in the flesh, the sharp planes of his face cast in sharp shadows by the light of the chamber and many lines upon his brow, his back just a bit less straight upon the plain wooden chair that had been afforded him.

    The mirrors fade to rippling silver grey as Malarys stops to write down the guilty pleas both had entered into the record. There might be something like a glimmer of appreciation in his eyes over the deed, not so much for the rights and wrongs of admitting fault, but because it makes it so much easier for him to move on to the lesser crimes of the Golden Shields... lesser at least in comparison to planning the death of a city, but this is not petty theft or minor graft that one might have expected creating such an imbalance of power as the geasa did in the Westerlands.

    The least of the crimes recounted and presented through testimony is a massive smuggling ring which counts a total of more than five thousand Gold Dragons in lost taxes, then there is the rape and murder, mostly confined to the smallfolk who would had no means of fighting back, all the more so with their lords enthralled, but at Sarsfield where the mages had fought and killed the lord before fleeing one of the young cousins of the main line had actually suffered the unwanted advances of a mage of high ambition and low character. That it had stopped shy of actual rape could be put down to luck and wit on the part of the victim as well as the lord, now sadly dead, managing to give some protection in spite of his binding. For many of the lords in attendance this seems to cut closer to home than much of what has been said before. The killing of a city is abstract, the hideous works of unregulated flesh-smithing arcane and obscure, but the air of dread and uncertainty 'like a clinging grey morass that eats your soul little by little' as one witness put it speaks to the fears of many in this time of change and to the fears of tyranny.

    It is not without purpose beyond the obvious that you have made such a show of this trial, for not only to your aim to end House Lannister which has ruled in the Westerlands since before the bounds of commonly recorded history, but it gives here to the notables of east and west a tyrant of an obvious sort. Thus when they might see some change that you have championed and grumble to themselves that it to going 'too far', they might think back to what too far actually looks like from one who would sooner strangle a realm than let it loose from his grip.

    "Rarely have I had the chance to stand before a man whose crimes are so many and so unabashed," Malarys concludes once the last of the witnesses had said their part. "Your Majesty, you have before you a man who fears neither the censure of his pears nor the judgement of history, who holds nothing sacred save power and the legacy of power. He is saved from the path of those who betrayed all life and sanity only by the chance in finding more wholesome allies, though he used their arts in most unwholesome and perilous ways. Had there been any question that his deeds require a sentence of death I would ask for one on the basis of that fact alone. As is I can only wish him swift him passage on the last of his journeys." The last is said with cold conviction that goes beyond his preset role in the trial and so it echoes across the hall and across the realm.

    How do you pass your sentence on Tywin and all of House Lannister?

    [] Write in

    OOC: I know you guys already decided on what sentence you shall give, but I thought I would give you the chance to put it into words. Also, the execution is an entirely different scene so I needed a scene break.
     
    Last edited:
  • Threadmarks
    • Azel said:
    No. It's just... I did not ask that, yet you identified it as a problem with my writing and advocated the same solution as every single person who I ever did ask that question.

    It's just... I... argh!?

    At this point, it's hard to deny that at the very least it is highly likely that this is the correct solution for my troubles, and yet at the same time, I was unable to put that into practice for years by now.

    So I'd like to take 5 minutes and scream into the void.
    Click to expand...
    Click to shrink...
    ... I empathized with you as a writer, and put a few minutes into thinking about what could be causing it if I was in your shoes? As I'm sure most of the same people did? :V
     
    DragonParadox said:
    OOC: I know you guys already decided on what sentence you shall give, but I thought I would give you the chance to put it into words. Also the execution is an entirely different scene so I needed a scene break. Not yet edited.
    Click to expand...
    Click to shrink...
    One technical question, does the plan "Capture souls in Tinaun, deliver to final location, break Tinaun to release the soul there" actually work like that?
    Also if it does, what alignment (and therefore fitting Plane) do the Lannisters actually have?
     
    I forget, did we go with hanging or was he being fed to a tree?

    I know we're going to stuff and mount him in the trophy hall but I lost track on how we're killing him.
     
    Artemis1992 said:
    One technical question, does the plan "Capture souls in Tinaun, deliver to final location, break Tinaun to release the soul there" actually work like that?
    Also if it does, what alignment (and therefore fitting Plane) do the Lannisters actually have?
    Click to expand...
    Click to shrink...

    It does, it is an odd way to carry souls but not even unprecedented in these strange times. As for alignments;
    1. Lanna is LN
    2. Gerion is TN
    3. Tywin is LE
     
    Last edited:
    DragonParadox said:
    In the Scales of Empire ​

    Eighteenth Day of the Fifth Month 294 AC

    You sigh... this again. Well to be fair, he is not accusing you of wanting to harm his children, only a father worried to the fate of his daughter and his son, and if ever unreasonable fears loom blackest, they are upon a man at the foot of the gallows. "The Imperium does not punish children for the deeds of their parents. Your children will become wards of the state and be treated with all the care and compassion this implies." You cannot quite keep the exasperation off your tongue entirely. "We are not barbarians, after all."

    Softly, so softly you doubt other ears than yours in the whole of the throne room caught it, Tywin Lannister curses bitterly and you do not think it is at your last dig. With Lanna and Gerion's admission of guilt, the last of his family have abandoned him and there can be no more hope that others have not, for had he not bound them to him with chains of magic?

    Tywin Lannister looks old for the first time since you have laid eyes on him in the flesh, the sharp planes of his face cast in shadows by the light of the chamber and many lines upon his brow, his back just a bit less straight upon the plain wooden chair that had been afforded him.

    The mirrors fade to rippling silver grey as Malarys records the guilty plea both had entered into the record. There might be something like a glimmer of appreciation in his eyes over the deed, not so much for the rights or wrongs of admitting fault, but because it makes it so much easier for him to move on to the lesser crimes of the Golden Shields... lesser, at least, in comparison to planning the death of a city, but this is not petty theft or minor graft that one might have expected creating such an imbalance of power as the geasa did in the Westerlands.

    The least of the crimes recounted and presented through testimony is a massive smuggling ring which cost several counts a total of more than five thousand Gold Dragons in lost taxes and then there is the rape and murder, mostly confined to the smallfolk who would have no means of fighting back, all the more so with their lords enthralled, but at Sarsfield, where the mages had fought and killed the lord before fleeing, one of the young cousins of the main line had actually suffered the unwanted advances of a mage of high ambition and low character. That it had stopped shy of actual rape could be put down to luck and wit on the part of the victim as well as the lord, now sadly dead, managing to give some protection in spite of his binding. For many of the lords in attendance, this seems to cut closer to home than much of what has been said before. The killing of a city is abstract, the hideous works of unregulated flesh-smithing arcane and obscure, but the air of dread and uncertainty 'like a clinging grey morass that eats your soul little by little' as one witness put it, speaks to the fears of many in this time of change and to the fears of tyranny.

    It is not without purpose, beyond the obvious, that you have made such a show of this trial, for not only do you aim to end House Lannister, which has ruled in the Westerlands since before the bounds of commonly recorded history, but it gives the notables of east and west a tyrant of an obvious sort. Thus, when they might see some change that you have championed and grumble to themselves that it is going too far, they might think back to what too far actually looks like from one who would sooner strangle a realm than let it loose from his grip.

    "Rarely have I had the chance to stand before a man whose crimes are so many and so unabashed," Malarys concludes once the last of the witnesses had said their part. "Your Majesty, you have before you a man who fears neither the censure of his pears nor the judgement of history, who holds nothing sacred save power and the legacy of power. He is saved from the path of those who betrayed all life and sanity only by the chance in finding more wholesome allies though he used their arts in most unwholesome and perilous ways. Had there been any question that his deeds require a sentence to death, I would ask for one on the basis of that fact alone. As it is, I can only wish him swift passage on the last of his journeys." The last is said with cold conviction that goes beyond his present role in the trial, and so it echoes across the hall and across the realm.

    How do you pass your sentence on Tywin and all of House Lannister?

    [] Write in

    OOC: I know you guys already decided on what sentence you shall give, but I thought I would give you the chance to put it into words. Also the execution is an entirely different scene so I needed a scene break. Not yet edited.
    Click to expand...
    Click to shrink...
    Here's an edited version of the chapter, DP.
     
    I'm all for hanging Tywin, but I think Lanna and Gerion have earned themselves a quick beheading with their guilty pleas. It costs us nothing to give them that small bit of dignity in their final moments.
     
    Well good night guys, I was kind of hurrying to post this because I am feeling rather sleepy for the hour, most likely due to going to bed really late last night.

    Note to self: Coffey is not sleep, no not even then... :V

    See you tomorrow with executions and then on to the business of ruling and the ordering of the realm.
     
    [X] Well, while Tywin is bound for Baator, you aren't so cruel as to part Lanna and Gerion for no reason but poetic symmetry. Axis is still somewhat functional despite the dead and silent forges. There's a Deva who will take them off your hands if only to ensure they actually end up in the right place.

    [X] "I must concur with High Justice Vanor. If Lord Tywin was not two steps from the Pit, then I have never worn a crown."
    -[X] "I, Imperator Viserys Targaryen, hereby sentence Tywin of House Lannister to death by hanging, like so many of the servants he commanded to atrocity would have been had they lived to see this day, and many more who are yet alive will alongside him."
    --[X] "Taking into account their testimony and the nature of their crimes, I shall intercede on behalf of Gerion and Lanna Lannister, and administer their swift death myself via beheading."
    ---[X] "Additionally, House Lannister is hereby dissolved, with all properties thereby falling to the Crown to administer or grant as it sees fit. Additionally, all the properties in Lannisport will be handed over to Duke Theon Greyjoy."
    ---[X] "Still living members of House Lannister that are presently married to other nobles may take on the name of their spouse, as long as the head of house of that line permits this. Otherwise, henceforth they shall take on the name of Hill."
    ---[X] "Any attempt at all to recreate the now defunct House Lannister, claim their titles, rights or properties, or attempts to make other legal claims based on the House of Lannister, will be considered a direct rejection of Imperial authority and will be legally treated as treason, and dealt with accordingly."
    ---[X] "Lastly, all dispossessed members of the house who are not directly found to be culpable for related crimes of these three, can make their case for retaining their properties on the morrow, and those who are to be left with nothing will be given a small sum for the starting of a new life, provided they have not been implicated in other crimes against the Crown."
    ----[X] "That will be all."
     
    Last edited:
    Reader mode
    You must login or register to reply here.
    Remove ads
    Back
    Top