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

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DragonParadox said:
Lord and Lady upon a Far Shore ​

Fifteenth Day of the Eighth Month 294 AC

Gerold Dayne would not be taking part in the joust. The realization did not come to him all at once in some flash of insight, and a good thing too, for he did not trust those one whit since, at the age of eight and ten and still new to the city, he had thought to seduce the Black Pearl of Braavos, which had gone about as well as one might imagine. He had been finding the recollection a bit less mortifying and a bit more amusing as time went by, which was part of the reason for his abstaining. He did not feel he had anymore glory to find on the jousting field.

It was only a game, he thought as he looked out with a familiar eye upon the stands going up for the joust to come. It had always been a game, of course, but one played as close to deadly earnest as the circumstances allowed. One had to have a fine horse and the skill to hold your seat, a well balanced lance, and the boldness to use it.

Never is a blink more telling than in the joust, lest it be in the throes of passion, the old saying went. Like many things that were old, it had lost much of its sharpness in this new age.

Just this evening, Gerold had heard from a wizard with three pints in him that the Schoolarum of the Shadow Tower had a room where the shadows came alive as foes of every sort to train against. The knight had asked if they could be fought with sword and shield as well as with spell, and the answer had been a firm 'yes'.

It only made sense really. They did have spell-swords like Ser Royce in the tower, after all, and for them marshal skill was as much a part of their training as magic. So why then could not these false battles be fought ahorse with lance and shield. No reason really, well no practical reason at least. The joust was not really here to train cavalry, it was to celebrate the upcoming wedding of the Imperator and his lovely bride. It was a matter of prestige, of being seen and gaining the adulation of the roaring crowds. Oh how he used to crave that once.

A man could get drunk on that alone, and much like drink the healers should warn against it, the Darkstar thought, then laughed softly under his breath. He had done it now, gotten himself to where he would not be able to enjoy winning, and if that were so it would be churlish of him to even make the attempt.

"Let the young bloods have their fun. By the time their children are old enough to earn their spurs, they might not even want them," there was something hollow in Darkstar's chest when he said that aloud, even if only softly, unheard by any other in the bustle and good cheer of the tavern. It was hard to contemplate in such a place as this, but Gerold knew as well as any man could that any new beginning must carry within it the shadow of an ending, and there were a lot of things beginning this month in the City of Sorcerers.

"You look like you have just seen a ghost, ser. I do hope you reported it to the Scholarum," a soft voice heavy with amusement and the faintly sing-song accent of the Reach called out from his left. Turning, he saw a woman who was obviously of noble blood and just as obviously associated with the Academy of Fine Arts here in the capital, as evidenced by her green cap and swan feather.

"No ghost, my lady, only a vision of loveliness so bright that I thought it at first the work of some spirit," the knight replied as he rose from his seat to give a proper bow. "Gerold Dayne at your disposal."

"Truly?" There was no mistaking the coquettish gleam in her eye. "Lynesse Hightower..."

Right, of course she would be a duke's sister, Gerold thought. His luck had never been that good. Still, no one was going to be calling for his head over a bit of light flirtation and he could use some distracting. "Did you see the Wave Parade this morning, truly breathtaking. Almost makes me wish I had learned how to swim and be a proper Dornishman."

"It is really not that hard, why I would wager even I could teach you..."

It was more than Gerold's head that got distracted by the time the evening was done.

OOC: Yes the Dornishman did just get seduced by the lady of the Reach, he might never live it down if Oberyn ever finds out. Might still count it a fair trade. Not yet edited.
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Here's an edited version of the chapter, DP.

Danger, Gerold Dayne, danger! Flee while you still can! :oops2:
 
DragonParadox said:
OOC: Obviously there is quite a bit of politics being rolled for in the background, but I would rather not show all of it since you obviously do not know about every detail of what every duke does each day and that will play into Curia interactions later.
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I think this fair because it also stop us from metagaming a little it, is easiert for visery to couner a lot of people when he know more or less exactly what happen.

Also maybe is just me because I haent read the entire quest(I mean, at the speed you chunk updates, is nearly imposible) but I feel a sort of weird pity for Mace, dont ask me why, just feel they got shaft in the game of magic, but it is what it is.
 
Do anyone remenber that time when tyrene and visery talk about parner and he kinda admit he found azema and her horns atractive?.

because perpement farm, like the north, remenbers.
 
We need to write the moment when Lya find visery with a copy of "super honery hot chick" maganize in his hand, that would be a blast.

Acolyte said:
Yeah, I interlized that we are tyrants now.
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Dont worry, convetional wisdom means we will enjoy a good couple of year of tyranical rule before a aventure party kill us, probably in the same place were twynn die for extra ironny, in the meantime, let enjoy ourselves
 
Razios said:
We need to write the moment when Lya find visery with a copy of "super honery hot chick" maganize in his hand, that would be a blast.



Dont worry, convetional wisdom means we will enjoy a good couple of year of tyranical rule before a aventure party kill us, probably in the same place were twynn die for extra ironny, in the meantime, let enjoy ourselves
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Ha, like we will ever let that happen. We are actually belovenent .
 
Crake said:
Let's be honest... for Xianxia supporting cast archetypes, would you expect any level of restraint from that trope specifically?
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No, but I was under the impression such behavior, especially from YiTi- aka those people on the current shit list due to both envoys being idiots at the crowning--would warrant grey cloaks tossing you into a cell (or inquisition tossing you into a deeper pit) instead of a chance to compete in the publicized celebrations for the Imperator's marriage.
 
A_Somebody said:
No, but I was under the impression such behavior, especially from YiTi- aka those people on the current shit list due to both envoys being idiots at the crowning--would warrant grey cloaks tossing you into a cell (or inquisition tossing you into a deeper pit) instead of a chance to compete in the publicized celebrations for the Imperator's marriage.
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Nothing says an independent citizen from Yi-Ti cannot travel to SD without permission. We're not exactly banning Yi-Tish folks from our territories, just drowning mightily upon their governments.
 
Goldfish said:
Nothing says an independent citizen from Yi-Ti cannot travel to SD without permission. We're not exactly banning Yi-Tish folks from our territories, just drowning mightily upon their governments.
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Oh no they can travel just fine, but I don't imagine our law enforcement would look charitably upon a stereotypical Young Master doing stereotypical Young Master things like threatening 8 generations of familial extermination on someone for bumping into them on the street. Like maybe if they were in a good mood, someone angrily shouting "fuck you I'll kill you for this!!!" in SD would get a slap on the wrist. However I'd think there's been some note that especially rich YiTi-ans are to be given extra scrutiny after the comedy of errors at the coronation and that the well of tolerance is dry on that front.
 
DragonParadox said:
Still any suggestions are welcome for how to model things without the character assignments that have bogged down so much as the realm grew.
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So unless things developed between late April and now, I've actually been meaning to refer to a military emulation system that felt effective in modeling different types of Fantasy Armies kicking the shit out of each other.

It originally debuted in Amidst The Flames Of War, which I haven't actually read yet but I've heard good things. I've been informed that Red Flag made the system. Basic premise seems to be that you're a Merc hired by a country to run their failing military for them or something like that?

Then Rise of the Golden Eagle used it, which I have read and it felt like it worked out well. I'm under the impression that Red Flag helped adapt the system, or it was intended for this as well? Basic premise is that it's a "What If?" Warcraft Quest where the protag is the exceptionally young Queen of a small mountainous region who would really like if people stopped trying to make things difficult.

Then Imperial Battlemage Quest made use of it as part of the primary focus and I quite enjoyed it. Raising Kittens did all adaptations for this one. Basic premise is that you're a newly trained Imperial Battlemage*. The meat of the story so far is the Graduation Test.

It's kinda like a D&D Summoner but they tap into Leylines where available to power their magic so they're more literal One Person Armies. Think Vee when she gets on a rampage but Summon Duration is Permanent and each Summon has both a telepathic link as well as that one spell that let's you look through their eyes/senses. Vee specifically with those boosts would count as a mid level version of them I think, counting WBLmancy.

It includes things like defining different phases of battle, including skirmishes, direct clashes, elites doing something heroic, mages doing something magic, both failing to do such,, attempts to disengage, routs, returning to camp to lick your wounds, raiding your enemy's camp to really kick their shit in, and possibly more.

The Army system is neat. Every Army is defined by a Magnitude of Size which has a certain number of Points in it. Each Point represents one unit of a specific type of combatant, with each unit providing a bonus to one or more of the phases of battle, with additional special rules being available due to racial/cultural specialities or certain Heros or Equipment being available.

Commanders provide a bonus to phases of battle depending on what they're actually good at doing, and are available for head hunting missions by elites if opportunities present themselves.
 
Vote closed
Adhoc vote count started by DragonParadox on May 29, 2021 at 3:13 AM, finished with 62 posts and 13 votes.
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For the record Amrelath would not have burned down the city, but he might have eaten some of the ring-leaders.
 
Added Kobold and two golems, one from Myr and one from a Bulabar who is odd even among his own kind. Any ideas where the Young Master would compete?

No magic
  1. Greatjon Umber (chip on his shoulder since that fight with Roose)
  2. Edmure Tully (Does not really expect to win but wants to at least lose in a way that will get House Tully talked about in that context)
  3. Liomond Lashare (Martial Maneuvers are not magic really...)
  4. Ser Roger Reyne (he could use the prize money)
  5. Domeric Bolton (don't think he had time yet to retrain into the more magical levels of the Harbinger class)
  6. Robar Royce (trying to get out of his brother's shadow)
  7. one of the Knights Griffon
  8. Osric (who has to keep his monkey form the entire time)
  9. Hidden Coils (Naga looking to make converts for Yss and gold for herself)

Just self buffs and spells
  1. Valaena Velaryon (It was fun the last time)
  2. Anya of Sorcerer's Deep (wants to see if she can go further)
  3. Ser Dregaire the Fey Knight (for the fey glory is food)
  4. Virys Melreos (Duskblade from Volon Therys; he is in this mostly for the glory and plans to give the a cash prize away to charity to help rehabilitate a checkered House past)
  5. A Leshy druid (raising money for a Leshy colony in Westeros)
  6. Neck-snapper (Vigilant Shadow Cat; It's a sapient cat, what more reason do you need for it to engage in blood sport?)
  7. Sea's Blood (Jesulan, Aquatic Cleric Creature, mostly in this for the experience; something of a thrill seeker)
  8. Rezig Rust-Scale First generation Kobold

All magic
  1. Argo the Cunning Bull (For Glory, also money)
  2. Vrath the Serpentfolk Hexblade (Partly for his own glory, partly as a bit of a PR stunt for someone who is running go the serpentfolk seat in the Vocium)
  3. Dirriz Bluecloak (He gets to show off. What's not to like?)
  4. Harko the Beastmaster (Lorathi Born Slayer; worked on and off as a bodyguard and a assassin both; though after Imperial law was established stuck to the former over tha latter)
  5. Nuri (for the glory of her mother)
  6. Brienne of Tarth (for the glory of her gods)
  7. Digir Izi (For personal glory)
  8. The Pride of Myr (Advanced Commando Glass Golem): mostly in it for the exposure not the money. There are people watching that could actually afford such golems
  9. Old Juicer (Steam-Powered Clockwork Pumpkin Golem): Well the creator is very proud of this at the very least. No one has yet quite had the courage to ask him how the hell he made something like this
 
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