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

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Just played Planescape Torment for the first time (20 years too late, I know) and now I wonder, does something like Sigil exists in this setting?
I don't believe @DragonParadox ever corrected us when we talked about it as an option for our first portal, after killing Damphair, but at the same time the Prime Material has been build up as the center of the Multiverse, so Sigil wouldn't quite fit in there.

The other thought was, greatest city in the multiverse, center of all, and it still looks like a dump, with slums and ruins and all that in the lower wards. Pretty pathetic, we are already doing better in that regard.
 
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Interlude MCCXXXIV: Seeds of Sorrow
  • Threadmarks
    • Seeds of Sorrow ​

    Twenty-Fifth Day of the Eleventh Month 294 AC

    In every culture and among every people of humankind there are tales of child snatchers, and each and every one is greeted with a shiver of fear from young and old alike. The world is filled already with things that can take away the life of a child; illness, mischance and violence, but there is a special sort of hell in seeing one's child not dead, but gone, vanished into the unknown. The kindreds of Lhazar were sadly familiar with it, slave raids had a propensity for targeting the young once they were free from the worst threat of plague and the dead of the Great Grass Sea, those who had replaced the Dothraki in the howling nights seemed to bear particular malice to those whose lives burned brightest, but there were more uses for luminous souls touched lightly by the world than simply to be food to rapacious corpses.

    Shades danced and sorrows sang, lantern-light under the stars. The pattern shifts and plans are laid, deathless and breathless all at once. Ironic that that escape should come with the aid of those who had not only yoked themselves to a god, but allowed themselves to be named chattel, sheep and lambs. It had been far too easy...

    ***​

    "Children... I can't give you children, you said lambs, you said lambs..." the man had been weeping, his tears mingling pleasantly with the morning dew.

    "Do you not call yourselves the lambs of your Shepherd God, not once or twice, but in every service dedicated onto Him? Come now, it is only nine of them..."

    "I can't... I am not good at that sort of thing. I can't hide. I can't cheat. I can't lie. Why me?" The questions were tiresome, but expected.

    "You have access to those we wish for, but I suppose if you truly are as incompetent as you say we might grant you the aid of some who can shape-change to slip into the cradles you leave empty and keep away the tears, for a while at least. Children are such fragile things..." Laughter like silver bells clinked on stone. The best of all bargains are those you can sell twice.

    "So they will die then, as though from illness and no one will know... will know that I took them...?"

    It really was almost unfair how easy he was to lead by hope, almost as easy as he had been to lead by fear.

    A handful of seeds flashed blue-black in the harsh morning light. "Plant one of these into the soil and water them with but a few drops of the blood of the one you wish to take away and they shall be as the reflections in the mirror. None shall suspect you." The seeds froze in mid toss as though the very air had frozen around them. "Of course, that will cost you more than simple sanctuary."

    The shepherd Edor dropped his head, already a slave bound in shackles of the mind for all that no chains yet lay upon his body.

    OOC: I very specifically did not drop too much information here since you guys do not know that much more about the area in character than that they have 'fey troubles'.
     
  • Threadmarks
    • Artemis1992 said:
    Just played Planescape Torment for the first time (20 years too late, I know) and now I wonder, does something like Sigil exists in this setting?
    I don't believe @DragonParadox ever corrected us when we talked about it as an option for our first portal, after killing Damphair, but at the same time the Prime Material has been build up as the center of the Multiverse, so Sigil wouldn't quite fit in there.

    The other thought was, greatest city in the multiverse, center of all, and it still looks like a dump, with slums and ruins and all that in the lower wards. Pretty pathetic, we are already doing better in that regard.
    Click to expand...
    Click to shrink...

    If you guys had chosen Sigil for that option it would have existed, but as is the cosmology shifted to more of a standard D&D one with pathfinder sprinkles
     
    This does still not really feel like fey-work.

    Sure, technically a malicious Fey could do everything we've seen so far, and possibly would, but this particular kind of stringing someone along feels more like fiends, who not only want the result of the bargain, but also to corrupt the one they deal with.

    You know, why just get the price you are after, when you can also collect a bonus?

    The Fey would have been more likely to leave him struck with the impossible bargain and be amused by his success or failure alike.
     
    DragonParadox said:
    Seeds of Sorrow ​

    Twenty-Fifth Day of the Eleventh Month 294 AC

    In every culture and among every people of humankind, there are tales of child snatchers, and each and every one is greeted with a shiver of fear from young and old alike. The world is filled already with things that can take away the life of a child; illness, mischance, and violence, but there is a special sort of hell in seeing one's child not dead, but gone, vanished into the unknown. The kindred of Lhazar were sadly familiar with it, slave raids had a propensity for targeting the young once they were free from the worst threat of plague and the dead of the Great Grass Sea. That which had replaced the Dothraki in the howling nights seemed to bear particular malice to those whose lives burned brightest, but there were more uses for luminous souls touched lightly by the world than simply to be food for rapacious corpses.

    Shades danced and sorrows sang, lantern-light under the stars. The pattern shifts and plans are laid, deathless and breathless all at once. Ironic that that escape should come with the aid of those who had not only yoked themselves to a god, but allowed themselves to be named chattel, sheep, and lambs. It had been far too easy...

    ***​

    "Children... I can't give you children, you said lambs, you said lambs..." the man had been weeping, his tears mingling pleasantly with the morning dew.

    "Do you not call yourselves the lambs of your Shepherd God, not once or twice, but in every service dedicated unto Him? Come now, it is only nine of them..."

    "I can't... I am not good at that sort of thing. I can't hide. I can't cheat. I can't lie. Why me?" The questions were tiresome, but expected.

    "You have access to those we wish for, but I suppose if you truly are as incompetent as you say we might grant you the aid of some who can shape-change to slip into the cradles you leave empty and keep away the tears, for a while at least. Children are such fragile things..." Laughter like silver bells clinked on stone. The best of all bargains are those you can sell twice.

    "So they will die then, as though from illness and no one will know... will know that I took them...?"

    It really was almost unfair how easy he was to lead by hope, almost as easy as he had been to lead by fear.

    A handful of seeds flashed blue-black in the harsh morning light. "Plant one of these into the soil and water them with but a few drops of the blood of the one you wish to take away and they shall be as the reflections in the mirror. None shall suspect you." The seeds froze in mid toss as though the very air had frozen around them. "Of course, that will cost you more than simple sanctuary."

    The shepherd Edor dropped his head, already a slave bound in shackles of the mind for all that no chains yet lay upon his body.

    OOC: I very specifically did not drop too much information here since you guys do not know that much more about the area in character than that they have 'fey troubles'.
    Click to expand...
    Click to shrink...
    Made some additional edits to the chapter, DP.

    Damn, I was hoping my speculation was off base on this one, but it looks like children are on the menu, after all.
     
    Artemis1992 said:
    This does still not really feel like fey-work.

    Sure, technically a malicious Fey could do everything we've seen so far, and possibly would, but this particular kind of stringing someone along feels more like fiends, who not only want the result of the bargain, but also to corrupt the one they deal with.

    You know, why just get the price you are after, when you can also collect a bonus?

    The Fey would have been more likely to leave him struck with the impossible bargain and be amused by his success or failure alike.
    Click to expand...
    Click to shrink...

    I agree. Baator was already attempting to recruit fey too, so maybe it is combination of the two.

    Plus, nine children for the Lord of the Ninth?
     
    Not a lot of votes for a major plan.
    Adhoc vote count started by DragonParadox on Jul 26, 2021 at 2:50 PM, finished with 61 posts and 12 votes.
    • [X] Genie Alliance Collaboration
      [X] Genie Alliance Collaboration
      -[X] Peerless Empire
      --[X] [Scouting] Accept the offer. (Must send air force assets to the Veil of Brimstone next turn.)
      --[X] [Propaganda] Accept the request. (favor with the Sultana, potentially greater support for the war effort)
      --[X] [Viridium] Promise to build a base there yourself and to sell the Viridium to the Peerless Empire. (+80 Supplies, must build new military base in central Dorne, containing at least 1 Manufactory and costing at least 100 Supplies)
      --[X] [Miners] Perform the feasibility study. (requires a Research Action, gain 20 Supplies, gain samples of Abysium and Blight Quartz, can unlock other opportunities if successful)
      --[X] [Poison] See if you can produce the materials that the Shaitan want. (requires a Research Action, if successful gain 1 Manufactory in Gogossos and the formula for Viridium Gas)
      -[X] Caliphate of Armun Kelisk
      --[X] [Elementals] Create a large number of Fire Elementals for the Djinn. (+100 Supplies, will need a Ministry of Magic action to avoid problems when integrating those elementals that refuse to serve the Djinn)
      --[X] [Training] Agree and let the Marshalls organize such training. (requires a Military Action per turn until succesfuly completed, might learn something from the Djinn)
    Click to expand...
     
    I now regret I didn't come up with a way to have GAS as an acronym.

    Edit: Damn it all, Genie Alliance Strategy! :mad:
     
    Last edited:
    Vote closed. Let's see where this takes us
    Adhoc vote count started by DragonParadox on Jul 27, 2021 at 7:25 AM, finished with 68 posts and 15 votes.
    • [X] Genie Alliance Collaboration
      [X] Genie Alliance Collaboration
      -[X] Peerless Empire
      --[X] [Scouting] Accept the offer. (Must send air force assets to the Veil of Brimstone next turn.)
      --[X] [Propaganda] Accept the request. (favor with the Sultana, potentially greater support for the war effort)
      --[X] [Viridium] Promise to build a base there yourself and to sell the Viridium to the Peerless Empire. (+80 Supplies, must build new military base in central Dorne, containing at least 1 Manufactory and costing at least 100 Supplies)
      --[X] [Miners] Perform the feasibility study. (requires a Research Action, gain 20 Supplies, gain samples of Abysium and Blight Quartz, can unlock other opportunities if successful)
      --[X] [Poison] See if you can produce the materials that the Shaitan want. (requires a Research Action, if successful gain 1 Manufactory in Gogossos and the formula for Viridium Gas)
      -[X] Caliphate of Armun Kelisk
      --[X] [Elementals] Create a large number of Fire Elementals for the Djinn. (+100 Supplies, will need a Ministry of Magic action to avoid problems when integrating those elementals that refuse to serve the Djinn)
      --[X] [Training] Agree and let the Marshalls organize such training. (requires a Military Action per turn until succesfuly completed, might learn something from the Djinn)
    Click to expand...
     
    Part MMMDCCCLXII: Pacts and Promises
  • Threadmarks
    • Pacts and Promises ​

    Twenty-Eighth Day of the Eleventh Month 294 AC

    It does not escape your notice that you are being bribed, nor that the envoys are quite skilled in the task. Bribe away, you think, the sentiment reflected in your smile. The air force could use more seasoning against your foes and the Veil is as a good place for it as it was last year. As to the matter of the educational material, given how valuable the alliance is, you would do it for free. Not that you say as much, of course, for the favor of the Opal Throne is more precious than diamonds across all the Spheres of Being.

    The mine you have to consider more deeply. You meet with Prince Doran and the lord on whose lands the mine would have to be built. It is obvious from the first they do not want strangers in Dorne building and staking a claim, lease or no lease. Better a greater investment up front than trouble later, not to mention that your own gut reaction was to go with the project that would give you the most control. 'Hoarding instinct,' Dany calls it in jest, while you call it cautious lordship. Let other lords lease their lands to you and not the reverse. Having decided to invest so heavily in the mines, it only makes sense to try to process it for your own use into gas. You do have some enemies who still need to breathe.

    When you bring the notion of performing a feasibility study to Qyburn, the Excelsus Necros Plastes is at first dismissive of the notion. On what basis do the Shaitan distrust his art and why should he have to turn his eye from more intriguing study to help quiet their fears? He changes his tune after a brief study of the small samples of Abysium and Blight Quartz the envoys had gifted you. Treasures after his own heart, he proclaims them. You forego asking if 'heart' is literal or poetic license.

    Joint training with the Djinn by contrast requires only a slight juggling of the military deployments, nothing that would interfere with the workings of the Legion or the Air Force, either defensively or offensively, according to the ever meticulous Marshal Benedict. The first exercises are set to take place right here in the Stepstones, where people are more used to strange sights and stranger visitors.

    So at last you come to the most weighty thing asked of you. Mines and manufactures are one thing, only as long lasting as the walls of which they are made, but to use the new-kindled Flame Forge to birth as many fire elementals as the Sky Fleet of the Djinn might need will likely mean thousands of new citizens among those who do not wish to enter pacts with your allies.

    Water elementals dwell comfortably in the seas, rivers, and lakes of the realm, air elementals could fly and earth elementals burrow deep below the roots of the world, but fire burns and all that it touches is consumed. A task for the Ministry to Magic, to be sure, but one you are certain they are up to.

    Three days after you first met the delegation, you sign the last agreement into being.

    ***

    Two days after that you get word back from the Summer Islands and it is not the report you had been hoping for. A pair of craftsmen with Inquisition contacts which have been trying to make headway into the 'kin-leagues' of Walano, something like a guild, have been stymied in their efforts by an unexpected source, their soon to be wedding vows. Said vows, which are the last hurdle in being accepted as part of the dyers and weavers respectively, are the final step in a courtship, both romantic and not, that has taken several months. Alas, last moment divinations show their final vows are to be made under the auspices of one of the local gods... and under the power of the priests. Likely as not, this will reveal their divided allegiance to their new kin which would add to the atmosphere of suspicion that still clings to the Imperial presence on the island.

    Summer Dreams: 26 (Failure)

    What do you do?

    [] Smuggle the agents out before the ceremony, there will be some suspicion at their vanishing, but it will not travel far you hope

    [] Let them go through with it, they might be able to resist the magic and if not, they are distant enough from the direct hand of the Crown that they can be disavowed

    [] Write in

    OOC: Well it's not a crit fail at least.
     
    Last edited:
  • Threadmarks
    • DragonParadox said:
    Pacts and Promises ​

    Twenty-Eighth Day of the Eleventh Month 294 AC

    It does not escape your notice that you are being bribed, nor that the envoys are quite skilled in the task. Bribe away, you think, the sentiment reflected in your smile. The air force could use more seasoning against your foes and the Veil is as a good place for it as it was last year. As to the matter of the educational material, given how valuable the alliance is, you would do it for free. Not that you say as much, of course, for the favor of the Opal Throne is more precious than diamonds across all the Spheres of Being.

    The mine you have to consider more deeply. You meet with Prince Doran and the lord on whose lands the mine would have to be built. It is obvious from the first they do not want strangers in Dorne building and staking a claim, lease or no lease. Better a greater investment up front than trouble later, not to mention that your own gut reaction was to go with the project that would give you the most control. 'Hoarding instinct,' Dany calls it in jest, while you call it cautious lordship. Let other lords lease their lands to you and not the reverse. Having decided to invest so heavily in the mines, it only makes sense to try to process it for your own use into gas. You do have some enemies who still need to breathe.

    When you bring the notion of performing a feasibility study to Qyburn, the Excelsus Necros Plastes is at first dismissive of the notion. On what basis do the Shaitan distrust his art and why should he have to turn his eye from more intriguing study to help quiet their fears? He changes his tune after a brief study of the small samples of Abysium and Blight Quartz the envoys had gifted you. Treasures after his own heart, he proclaims them. You forego asking if 'heart' is literal or poetic license.

    Joint training with the Djinn by contrast requires only a slight juggling of the military deployments, nothing that would interfere with the workings of the Legion or the Air Force, either defensively or offensively, according to the ever meticulous Marshal Benedict. The first exercises are set to take place right here in the Stepstones, where people are more used to strange sights and stranger visitors.

    So at last you come to the most weighty thing asked of you. Mines and manufactures are one thing, only as long lasting as the walls of which they are made, but to use the new-kindled Flame Forge to birth as many fire elementals as the Sky Fleet of the Djinn might need will likely mean thousands of new citizens among those who do not wish to enter pacts with your allies.

    Water elementals dwell comfortably in the seas, rivers, and lakes of the realm, air elementals could fly and earth elementals burrow deep below the roots of the world, but fire burns and all that it touches is consumed. A task for the Ministry to Magic, to be sure, but one you are certain they are up to.

    Three days after you first met the delegation, you sign the last agreement into being.

    ***​

    Two days after that you get word back from the Summer Islands and it is not the report you had been hoping for. A pair of craftsmen with Inquisition contacts which have been trying to make headway into the 'kin-leagues' of Walano, something like a guild, have been stymied in their efforts by an unexpected source, their soon to be wedding vows. Said vows, which are the last hurdle in being accepted as part of the dyers and weavers respectively, are the final step in a courtship, both romantic and not, that has taken several months. Alas, last moment divinations show their final vows are to be made under the auspices of one of the local gods... and under the power of the priests. Likely as not, this will reveal their divided allegiance to their new kin which would add to the atmosphere of suspicion that still clings to the Imperial presence on the island.

    Summer Dreams: 26 (Failure)

    What do you do?

    [] Smuggle the agents out before the ceremony, there will be some suspicion at their vanishing, but it will not travel far you hope

    [] Let them go through with it, they might be able to resist the magic and if not, they are distant enough from the direct hand of the crown that they can be disavowed

    [] Write in

    OOC: Well it's not a crit fail at least. Not yet edited.
    Click to expand...
    Click to shrink...
    Here's an edited version of the chapter, DP.

    Let's hope for a long and profitable relationship with our Genie allies going forward.

    And of course the Summer Isles continues to be a great big turd burger.
     
    How feasible is a third option, @DragonParadox, namely cutting the assets loose to go on with their lives, marrying as they wish with our blessing, perhaps even suggesting that they be forthcoming with their former employment by the Imperium? We could even give each happy couple a nice wedding gift.
     
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