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

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I know we had limitiations on construct creation but will it be possible to create greater ones with Zathir's Altar the lannisters used.

Did we recover the altar and is it salvageable?
 
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Adhoc vote count started by DragonParadox on May 1, 2021 at 2:59 AM, finished with 89 posts and 21 votes.
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Part MMMDCCLXXXV: Empire's Paths
  • Threadmarks
    • Empire's Paths ​

    Twenty-Fourth Day of the Fifth Month 294 AC

    The announcements of where you would be gathering and training mages is met mostly with a lack of surprise. Roose Bolton had not been shy about announcing the deal he had struck to the other lords of the North and it seems natural that a Scholarum should be set in Oldtown that has so long been the seat of learning west of the Narrow Sea. For Dorne also it is a matter of formalizing Doran's efforts and a reward for leal service. As for King's Landing the simple practicality of catering to half a million people goes a long way to justifying that and no lord could really have expected otherwise.

    Greyport and Gulltown are seen as more the surprises of the day, the first because it entrusts yet more power into the hands of the young and untested Theon Greyjoy and the second because the Vale is not seen as a place very friendly to mages. The more savy of the dukes see the first as a play to keep the Scholarums firmly in the hands of Imperial bureaucracy with Theon as something of a 'straw duke' by reason of his age and precarious position in the Westerlands, and the second as an attempt to make sorcery and those who wield it more popular in the Vale. One would after all have to be both blind and deaf to the city they are currently in not to realize that the prevalence of helpful magic can soften views to even fiends walking abroad in the land and memory eating fish in the harbor.

    Summerhall and Saath are both to have their own institutions for locally born mages later in the year, though since the former is a ruin and the latter is the province of a very chastised archon, no one argues the point of their necessity.

    It is the decision to found a Scholarum branch in the Saltpans that draws the most note however. After the expected and quite sincere thanks, Duke Darry brings up the point of how one is even supposed to gather mages from all over the province.

    "There are fewer roads and worse ones in the land between the rivers," you smile inwardly as he avoids using the names of kingdoms which are no more, "than anywhere else in Westeros..." he pauses and looks around, catching the snort of Maege Mormont. "That is taking into account how many folk live in the land and use the roads. The Tullys were poor stewards of the land and saw good roads more as paths for an invader to take than arteries through which the lifeblood of trade might flow."

    And let it be forgotten how little the fractious Riverlords wanted to deal with roads cutting through their lands at the call of their overlords and how readily they made tax and toll upon them, you think with no small measure of amusement at the ease with which blame is apportioned to those absent. The duke continues, "I move therefore that the transportation network in the lands of House Darry and House Frey be given priority, for are we not the bridge that binds the rest of Westeros together?"

    There is common blood between those Houses you well recall. Are you actually seeing the political center of the aristocratic block move north while Mace Tyrell reels and Redwyne courts Hightower? The question is not yet answered for Yohn Royce offers his own rebuttal. "I would think it is the lands of the the east that most need the aid in being tied together, both for the folk who dwell there of Mountain and Vale, but also for the chance to grow trade across the Narrow Sea to Braavos. Given the chance it could very well be the gates of Westeros, but hard is the delving through stone and over crevice without the magic of stoneshaping."

    "My lords, I think you miss a trick," old Wyman Manderly comes to his feet. "White Harbor is named for the White Knife as it seeks the sea and much use have we gotten from it for water is a better road than any forged of stone, even by sorcery."

    "Does that not open us to infiltration from these Deep Ones who even now reach with cold tendrils under the sea?" Darry counters. "I would sooner trust solid stone beneath my feet."

    "The Stormlands have few folk compared to other lands and what roads we have inherited are fairer than in other lands. We can bide a while while more urgent projects are set to rights." Stannis says, much to the amazement of those who do not know him well. Some are already trying to work out an angle when he simply says what he means and means what he says. The governors do not speak up openly, waiting for your call, be it for roads, canals or bridges.

    [] Write in proposed roads and canals projects

    OOC: The way we are going to do this is you guys come up with some projects, then if there are not enough of those I chine in with some of mine (though it is not really something I am an expert on so be warned) and then we decide on an action cost and that informs the politics of the situation. as those projects get built the ministries will have more reach into Westeros, everything from education to taxation to trade.
     
  • Threadmarks
    • The Riverlands can wait, except for the river harbour and town we owe the Freys and maybe expanding Saltpans harbour while we are at it. They genuinely don't need roads for the most part, as they can use the Forks for transport and have likely done so for millenia.

    Bolton is making a new harbour in the Dreadlands on his own. So connecting that would be good.

    Roads through Dorne should be a priority.

    And finally getting trains going.
     
    Did someone say ... CANALS?

    [sound of entire asoiaf forum booing in the distance]

    But seriously though, here's a really neat series of posts a GoT blogger made on the subject of Westerosi economic development:

    racefortheironthrone.wordpress.com

    Race for the Iron Throne: Westerosi Economic Development Series

    For ease of use and for our friends in r/asoiaf, I’ve decided to put my economic development series in one place, with just links above the cut, and the full text below: The Riverlands The S…
    racefortheironthrone.wordpress.com racefortheironthrone.wordpress.com

    Magic's going to make plans like these a whole lot easier.
     
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    1. Adapt the rail tracks of the Imperial Highways in the Stepstones and the Disputed Lands and start steam train services in that area. -> Getting things started and greatly improving the transport of foodstuffs from the Disputed Lands towards Tyrosh and SD.
    2. Set up specialized steam powered trams and rack railways for people and goods transfer within SD and to the hills and mountains surrounding it. -> Mostly a prestige project to get the technology better known and more desired.
    3. Highways network in Dorne, with connections through the Princes Pass towards the central Reach, near Wyl towards Storms End and over the Torrentine towards Oldtown. -> Keeping a promise to Doran.
    4. Building the core of a trade city and a river harbor near the Twins and expanding the harbor of Saltpans. -> Keeping a promise to Frey.
    5. Upgrade the Kings Roads to Imperial Highways. -> Backbone for further development.
    6. Arterial Highways in the North between Winterfell, White Harbor, the Dreadlands Harbor and the Wall. -> Getting a bit of core infrastructure done there.
    7. Arterial Highways in the Vale, connecting Gulltown, Northweald, the Eyri and the eastern coastline. -> Same here.
    8. Channel from Seaguard to the Twins and widening the tributaries of the Blue Fork to connect that too. -> Allows sea trade across the continent.

    That should be enough for the next turn and we will see then where to go next.
     
    Totally unrelated, but does anyone here read K6BD?
    If we ever fight an Archduke or Demonlord with the War domain (say Bael or Szuriel), this would be a great picture.
     
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    DragonParadox said:
    Empire's Paths ​

    Twenty-Fourth Day of the Fifth Month 294 AC

    The announcements of where you would be gathering and training mages is met mostly with a lack of surprise. Roose Bolton had not been shy about announcing the deal he had struck to the other lords of the North, and it seems natural that a Scholarum should be set in Oldtown that has so long been the seat of learning west of the Narrow Sea. For Dorne also it is a matter of formalizing Doran's efforts and a reward for leal service. As for King's Landing the simple practicality of catering to half a million people goes a long way to justifying that and no lord could really have expected otherwise.

    Greyport and Gulltown are seen as more the surprises of the day, the first because it entrusts yet more power into the hands of the young and untested Theon Greyjoy and the second because the Vale is not seen as a place very friendly to mages. The more savvy of the dukes see the first as a play to keep the Scholarums firmly in the hands of Imperial bureaucracy, with Theon as something of a 'straw duke' by reason of his age and precarious position in the Westerlands, and the second as an attempt to make sorcery and those who wield it more popular in the Vale. After all, one would have to be both blind and deaf to the city they are currently in not to realize that the prevalence of helpful magic can soften views to even fiends walking abroad in the land and memory eating fish in the harbor.

    Summerhall and Saath are both to have their own institutions for locally born mages later in the year, though since the former is a ruin and the latter is the province of a very chastised archon, no one argues the point of their necessity.

    It is the decision to found a Scholarum branch in the Saltpans that draws the most note however. After the expected and quite sincere thanks, Duke Darry brings up the point of how one is even supposed to gather mages from all over the province.

    "There are fewer roads and worse ones in the land between the rivers," you smile inwardly as he avoids using the names of kingdoms which are no more, "than anywhere else in Westeros..." he pauses and looks around, catching the snort of Maege Mormont. "That is taking into account how many folk live in the land and use the roads. The Tullys were poor stewards of the land and saw good roads more as paths for an invader to take than arteries through which the lifeblood of trade might flow."

    And let it be forgotten how little the fractious Riverlords wanted to deal with roads cutting through their lands at the call of their overlords, and how readily they made tax and toll upon them, you think with no small measure of amusement at the ease with which blame is apportioned to those absent. The duke continues, "I move therefore that the transportation network in the lands of House Darry and House Frey be given priority, for are we not the bridge that binds the rest of Westeros together?"

    There is common blood between those Houses, you well recall. Are you actually seeing the political center of the aristocratic block move north while Mace Tyrell reels and Redwyne courts Hightower? The question is not yet answered, for Yohn Royce offers his own rebuttal. "I would think it is the lands of the the east that most need the aid in being tied together, both for the folk who dwell there of Mountain and Vale, but also for the chance to grow trade across the Narrow Sea to Braavos. Given the chance, it could very well be the gates of Westeros, but hard is the delving through stone and over crevices without the magic of stoneshaping."

    "My lords, I think you miss a trick," old Wyman Manderly comes to his feet. "White Harbor is named for the White Knife as it seeks the sea, and much use have we gotten from it, for water is a better road than any forged of stone, even by sorcery."

    "Does that not open us to infiltration from these Deep Ones, who even now reach with cold tendrils under the sea?" Darry counters. "I would sooner trust solid stone beneath my feet."

    "The Stormlands have few folk compared to other lands and what roads we have inherited are fairer than in other lands. We can bide for a time while more urgent projects are set to rights." Stannis says, much to the amazement of those who do not know him well. Some are already trying to work out an angle when he simply says what he means and means what he says. The governors do not speak up openly, waiting for your call, be it for roads, canals or bridges.

    [] Write in proposed roads and canals projects

    OOC: The way we are going to do this is you guys come up with some projects, then if there are not enough of those I chime in with some of mine (though it is not really something I am an expert on so be warned) and then we decide on an action cost and that informs the politics of the situation. as those projects get built the ministries will have more reach into Westeros, everything from education to taxation to trade.
    Click to expand...
    Click to shrink...
    Made a few additional edits to the chapter, DP.
     
    Azel said:
    Bolton is making a new harbour in the Dreadlands on his own. So connecting that would be good.
    Click to expand...
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    How does he have the money for that. Because dread fort is literally a empty land filled with villages. That's project worth a lot of iron marks.

    We can make it for him, but if freys don't have enough money to make their own, how does he have that.
     
    I just re-read our decision on time-measurements.
    And now that we have Westeros that can be of relevance, since we all use SD-time, with no timezones.
     
    Acolyte said:
    How does he have the money for that. Because dread fort is literally a empty land filled with villages. That's project worth a lot of iron marks.

    We can make it for him, but if freys don't have enough money to make their own, how does he have that.
    Click to expand...
    Click to shrink...
    Deals with the Frey's and Omber. And it was not so much that the Frey's didn't have the money, just that Walder wanted the money.
    Artemis1992 said:
    I just re-read our decision on time-measurements.
    And now that we have Westeros that can be of relevance, since we all use SD-time, with no timezones.
    Click to expand...
    Click to shrink...
    That was already relevant since our more eastern holdings have a noon shift of about 2,5 hours.

    Edit: I'd also like to highlight that I was booed down for wanting decimal time because "it makes it easier to convert time to RL time", yet the only one who actually used time measurements so far in a plan or update was me.
     
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    Azel said:
    Deals with the Frey's and Omber. And it was not so much that the Frey's didn't have the money, just that Walder wanted the money.
    Click to expand...
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    Have they even ever interacted on screen?? Seems weird to have behind the scenes development without an omake or something.

    But i don't care enough to argue, so let's go.
     
    Acolyte said:
    Have they even ever interacted on screen?? Seems weird to have behind the scenes development without an omake or something.

    But i don't care enough to argue, so let's go.
    Click to expand...
    Click to shrink...
    Yes.... they had...

    forums.sufficientvelocity.com

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

    A Sword Without a Hilt: A Song of Ice and Fire/D&D 3.5 Crossover In a world where magic has all but guttered to ashes, becoming the fare of charlatans, petty conjurers, and ragged illusionists, a mighty change is stirring. From small and fragile sparks a great blaze will be reborn and men will...
    forums.sufficientvelocity.com forums.sufficientvelocity.com
     
    [X] Plan Totally Ripped Off From @Azel's Notes
    -[X] In Westeros:
    --[X] The King's Road will be upgraded to Imperial standards to serve as a backbone for all further road building efforts in Westeros.
    ---[X] From the King's Road in the North, arterial highways will be constructed to connect to Winterfell, White Harbor, the Dreadlands, and the Wall. The land is massive yet severely underpopulated, so the sooner we lay the groundwork for additional infrastructure which will encourage immigration and increased trade, the better.
    ---[X] From the King's Road in the Vale, arterial highways will be constructed to connect to Gulltown, Northweald, the Eyrie, and the eastern coastline, and for much the same reasons as our efforts in the North.
    --[X] A network of highways will be constructed in Dorne to take advantage of the recently completed bridge reconnecting Essos with Westeros via the Arm of Dorne, including connections through the Prince's Pass toward the central Reach, through Wyl towards Storms End, and crossing the Torentine towards Oldtown.
    --[X] A canal or channel will be cut between Seaguard and the Twin, along with widening the tributaries of the Blue Fork to allow it to reach all the way to the coast. This will create a navigable water route across the continent, linking the Sunset and Narrow Seas.
    --[X] Construction will begin on the core of a trade city with adjoining river harbor near the Twins, along with expanding the harbor of Saltpans.
    -[X] In Essos and the Stepstones:
    --[X] The previously laid tracks included in most of our road building projects in the Stepstones and western Essos will be made ready for train service. Construction of steam-powered trains using previously developed technology will begin. The train service isn't expected to begin running any time soon, but once it does enter service, it will greatly increase the flow of goods throughout the continent, especially bulk items, such as the foodstuffs grown in the former Disputed Lands.
    ---[X] To occur jointly with the development of the larger steam-powered trains intended to greater cargo and longer hauls, smaller trams and trains will be constructed and put into service in and around Sorcerer's Deep. This is not only intended to further improve the quality of life for those who live in our capital, but also as a showcase to begin familiarizing citizens with the new technology which will eventually become more commonplace throughout the Imperium.
     
    Interlude MLXXIV: New Dawn Rising
  • Threadmarks
    • New Dawn Rising ​

    Twenty-Third Day of the Fifth Month 294 AC

    The Merchant's House, Hegemony of Volantis

    Far was the lantern-lit hall of the inn in the sweltering heat of the Volantene summer from the blessed cool of Sorcerer's Deep, and few would be those who would dare to summon members of the Curia so far while it was in session, but even among the great there were those greater still, and the distance and inconvenience was part of the point in its own way. While many of their peers reeled under the realization that the world was wider and darker than any of them had dared to imagine, here in the private parlors that had seen the sealing to deals which had raised and crumbled the fortunes of Great Houses and the fate of nations, those wise and learned in lore would meet and talk of the affairs of the realm and how they might advance their own interests in it.

    On silks and gold in the guise of nameless glyphs fell the light, on hair bright as silver, on a wizard's coronet of wisdom. Zherys Naethyreon smiled at his guests, some more familiar than others. From Myr ever impeccable in dress and in manner had come the Lady Dorera, never Wisdom Dorera, because she always saw her magic as a tool and not as a facet of her nature, though alas she came alone. The cleavage among the Myrish must run deeper than he had thought or indeed hoped would be the case, though the lack was more than made up for in his eyes when he saw that Headmaster Denerro Melolla had not come alone and indeed had brought with him a 'man' in sea-green who was by far the most infamous inhabitant of fair Tolos to the east.

    "Your Excellency, I am so glad that you could attend our humble meeting," the former Lord of the Mysterium and current Archon of three realms said. One might think that was a faction in itself, but if so that hypothetical one lacked ambition.

    "And is there any reason beyond sentiment and symbolism that it should be here and not in the Deep?" the dragon asked with bluntness that hid a sharp gleam in the eye. "At the risk of seeming rude I must confess there are far more pleasant taverns in the capital than one can find here."

    "Well that is rather the point, is it not?" the Volantene mage replied with practiced smoothness. "The center needs no advocates, the outer provinces do, and that is the reason why I sought to bring you all here in West Volantis and not in the Old City, ever looking back to a legacy that was at least as flawed as it was great. Here there is trade and there is craft mundane and magical such as in my youth I could but dream of, that which binds us all not just in common heritage but common aspiration..."

    "Even this humble slave to the Lord of Light?" A voice floated out of the darkness, and to all eyes but Relath's and those of Zherys himself it seemed as though a mane of silver hair appeared unsupported in the air so dark was the face them bore them, though as the speaker grew close the complex crimson and orange tattoos that marked his cheeks and trailed along his neck flared like sullen flame.

    "You are late, Wisdom Moqorro, which I would not call a mark of humility," the lord of the city said without turning, though there was perhaps a more amused light in his eye than the tone would have hinted at. "By the fact that you are alone and not in the Company of Governor Maekar I am guessing he shall not be joining us."

    "He said, and I quote, 'tell that one-winged snake that I took the job to get away from his tangles and not to be reeled back in'." The priest stopped. "He also said to mention that he meant snake in the way a priest of the Great Serpent would mean it."

    "I shall take the compliment in the spirit it was given then," came the reply dry as the dust of the Red Wastes. "To answer your first question, yes, you are welcome because I happen to know who you represent beyond just R'hllor the Red, and I did not choose your name out of a golden pot when I handed you that responsibility." Turning to the rest of the room at large he added, "And that is rather the point I have come to discuss with all of you. Either by birth or by adoption," he tipped his head towards the Governor of Tolos. "You represent the heirs of a civilization that has formed the foundation of the Imperium united in language, in culture and in the very shape of our history and thus in the challenges we face. The end of slavery has brought vast opportunists, but also great peril as the cost of labor fluctuates wildly as displaced populations break on the walls of the great cities like waves upon the shore. The potential to revolutionize everything from agriculture to manufacturing to trade is great, but so is the chance for the cart to be upturned as the gates of popular representation grow wider, out pacing education."

    Zherys paused and looked around his attentive audience once more. Time to throw some red meat into the pit. "This will inevitably happen west of the Narrow Sea where education is so lacking even among the upper classes. Arguably it already has. Outside the imperial namings, the best 'lords' are the ones who are merely much too green and might learn as they go along. The worst are the sort who think prosperity can only be had in the manner of their fathers and their father's fathers, usually involving stabbing someone and taking their things in an economic model that any brigand could recognize."

    "And lo, the idol shows its face and it is gold, but its feet beneath the robe were clay..." a soft feminine voice declaimed a verse from the days of the Century of Blood. "I think most brigands would have recognized the ones who inspired that verse, Excellence," Lady Phassen said.

    "Three centuries is a rather long time to be holding grudges, my lady," Zherys replied. "Particularly when the empty lands that age has made are not staring us in the face and waiting to be peopled, assuming we retain the economic might to do so and can obtain the military resources to do is safely. To the west of Westeros lies only the cold sea over which no dragon has ever flown, not so the eastern border..."

    "I do not think the Imperator shall make any of us as mighty as kings, little cousin," the Dragon of Tolos said, his cool tone in contrast with his too-familiar words.

    "Us here, no, our allies in thought and deed, perhaps. War with Norvos and Qohor is all but inevitable, and I do not fancy seeing either beards or goats in the Curia. The Imperator favors local interests and elites to put in place in newly conquered cities when he can to ease the transition. There is yet a window to make sure those folk are of like mind to us, add allies in place of folk who speak our tongue poorly and think poorly those who keep to friendly gods. My friends, the Disputed Lands between three cities made of a small maritime kingdom the seeds of an Empire. What shall the disputed lands of all of Essos make of the realm?"

    "I hope you are not proposing anything disloyal, Zherys..." a trembling voice rose from the corner of the room.

    You really are unspeakably dim for a wizard, Melolla, Zherys thought, though he was careful to smooth the disdain off his face. "No, of course not. What I am proposing is to make the expansion of Imperial borders eastward easier and smoother, and in so doing create a counterbalance to the knightly Houses of the west and the mercantile interests of Braavos. The Imperator rewards those who take initiative but this ambition is beyond any of us alone. As well as that we would make our own lands greater and more influential making use of the resources we have inherited, be it in infrastructure, education, and the people more accustomed to sorcery."

    "And you would be leading this new movement, then?" the Dragon of Tolos asked, his tone dangerously low.

    "I would be representing our common interests. We would of course all retain the power of our own votes, but agree to seek counsel with each other in matters that would interest the whole. This fellowship would hold no formal bond."

    "What would you call this, then, assuming we were interested?" the Lady of Myr asked slowly.

    "The Compact of the Crimson Dawn, for in the east the sun rises red fit to kindle the hearts of all," the Hegemon of Volantis replied, and he smiled, for he could see the light of that ambition reflected in the eyes of all around the table. There was much yet to talk that night and talk they did, deep into the night, of things near and far... and some things beyond the borders of the world even.

    OOC: Ok, this was a lot longer than I thought it would be, but yeah, meet Zherys' new faction.
     
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