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

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Azel said:
@Goldfish, if that works, we can probably achieve the same effect with just Devil essence. A Industrial Imp Grinder would look great next to the Smelter.
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Or it could lead to the introduction of my previously theorized Infernal Combustion Engine. Ground up fiends plus Elysian apple juice might produce an energetic enough reaction to power mechanical devices.
 
We never said when we would kill/dismiss the devil, or how much we would take. We should demand further answers regarding minimum numbers of cultists, their information if he had time to gleam some, and a list of the other devil species he knows of that are active in westeros/this plane.

And info about his amulet and sword. (looks normal cold iron, is probably cursed).
 
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Part MDXCIII: Trial of Iron
  • Threadmarks
    • Trial of Iron​

    Eleventh Day of the Twelfth Month 292 AC

    As you approach the constantly, if discretely guarded door to the chamber of Stannis Baratheon, you find yourself feeling something rather uncommon for a man intent on visiting his prisoner, no matter how highborn or formidable. You would not call it quite trepidation, for you do not fear what you may find, nor quite resignation for you hold some hope of wringing some reasonable outcome from the... storm to come. Something between those two sentiments perhaps, almost as though you were grinding yourself for battle.

    Taking great care to hide the shadow of amusement at the sheer absurdity of the situation, you enter, though not before bidding the guards, "If you hear shouting, ignore it."

    As ever you receive a short greeting as the erstwhile lord of Dragonstone lays down a book. You imagine that of necessity he has been expanding his scholarly and literary horizons in the past months. "What did you find?" There is something more than his usual curt manner to the words, an impatience that speaks of deeper feelings, and unfortunately passions.

    "I am not in the habit of putting on mummer's plays and still less offering reports, but in the interests of going over this all once and clearly I ask that you do not interrupt what I am about to say and keep any questions to the end," you answer with a bluntness you would have never used with another, save perhaps as deliberate insult.

    "I'm listening." Lips thin in frustration as much as thought, but you cannot yet hear the grinding of teeth so you would count the approach a success.

    And so you launch into a dry recounting of the facts including your meeting with the lesser fey, a brief explanation of their inability to outright lie, and then the parley itself, emphasizing the presence of the diabolic assassin and its purpose to cause chaos and strife. You even go so far as to recount everything you learned from the dogai of its master and others who deal in infernal powers. At least then there is a chance you and your friends will not have to personally handle that threat also, comes the rather uncharitable thought.

    The first words Stannis Baratheon speaks when you are done, and to his credit he did not interrupt you, are not a question. "He's lying," he grinds out.

    "I do not believe he is," you answer. "He is certainly no common mortal man and he gave every sign of extreme distress when his identity was called into question by events."

    "How the hells could a usurper take Storm's End for his own and not know he is one?" The question is not quite loud enough to be considered yelling, but it is certainly getting close.

    Once you might have quipped something like: 'How did your elder brother convince himself his ass belongs on the Iron Throne?' but such a thing would be beneath you. The simpler answer 'magic' is unlikely to be satisfactory, so you struggle for some terms of comparison.

    "Imagine if you will a common child raised from birth to believe that he is a lord. He is taught the proper ways to act and speak, even the responsibilities of rank are impressed upon him, and then he is through stealth and trickery placed in the place of a true noble heir. Whatever fey spirit is responsible did this very thing, though far more quickly and thoroughly the same way I can do this," you will fire to bloom about four feet below the ceiling of the room between you, "without the need for kindling, flint, or steel."

    "Where did you say Renly is?" he asks in what you imagine is the most gracious way he can manage to coincide the point.

    "Not upon this world, as far in some ways as the dead from the living," you answer, hoping to hold off some foolish quest to return a man clearly unwilling and thus unfit for rule.

    Unfortunately this appears to have been the wrong thing to say. "Damn him! Damn him to the hells and back! Robert gave him the Stormlands and he will rule it, him not some spirit's puppet wearing his face!"

    A rather cynical part of you wonders if the man before you has been disappointed and shamed so many times that he draws some perverse comfort in it. No, there is concern beneath the anger, concern for family not merely for one's House. You wonder if he realizes it himself.

    "I believe, my lord," you cut him off, "that offering up one's name and face to a fey lord that he may craft a changeling to rule in one's stead is a far more thorough means of abdication than Duncan called the Prince of Dragonflies ever managed."

    "Robert is Renly's heir," he says at last. "The imposter should present himself to the king's justice then..."

    "It really is quite remarkable," you interrupt with deceptive mildness, "how far up your own ass you can shove your head, my lord. What do you think will happen to the poor man who would offer himself up thus for royal judgement?" you spit out the last words. "The same man who was willing to pay twelve-thousand golden dragons for your release, and step down willingly the moment he realized what he is out of a sense of duty."

    Stannis had paled almost white with anger as you spoke, but your final words make him flinch almost like physical blows. When he speaks his voice is rough but not loud. "What business is this of yours?"

    What do you answer?

    [] I will not see the Seven Kingdoms tear themselves up in war and strife nor the will of fiends be done

    [] I intend to get paid the ransom I am owed

    [] Write in

    OOC: If this somewhat resembled beating a lump of iron into shape... well it's supposed to. It's not that Stannis is incapable of doing the practical thing, it's just that it runs very much so against the grain.
     
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    • [] I will not see the seven kingdoms tear themselves up in war and strife nor the will of fiends be done.

    Speaking quite frankly, I am not as up my own ass about gold as Duesal seemed to imply we all were.

    Interceding in this is basically needed if we want the Stormlands intact and maybe even on our side for the wars to come. We have gold for our projects right now, and more on the way.

    If we can't get a ransom, I'll happily take a whole Kingdom from Tywin and Robert at the end of this quest chain.
     
    This is tricky. Stannis will still side with Robert as long as he is alive. We also can't have the transition between Stannis -> Renly be too quick (as in we arrive, meet with Renly, suddenly Stannis is back and Renly abdicates. Some suspicion is good, but too much means the Stormlords wont back him), so that'll need to be addressed later.

    I think I'd lead with how we do not want fiends to win, and that if we ever want to have hope of retaking the Seven Kingdoms at some vague point in the future, the Kingdoms need to still be standing, not fallen to devils and demons and monsters from the sea.

    Then talk about how we were crowned as King (albeit by our mother), and thus still have the duty to protect the Realm in general, and that if we hope to prove ourselves a true king, we must demonstrate that we can meet the duties of a king.

    And wryly mention that we wouldn't mind seeing that ransom for Stannis from someone, even if it's from Stannis himself.
     
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    [X] There's nothing going on here that's not my business.
    -[X] If the Stormlands are infested with Devils or were ruled by a Fey-puppet (not that this Renly turned out to be one) that would become my problem, either on taking my throne or earlier.
    -[X] If Renly gets replaced before paying your ransom I won't see any of it.
    -[X] If some fiends plan to ruin my reputation by making what everyone thinks is Renly kill himself or get replaced in my care that's certainly my business.
    --[X] I sometimes feel like everything happening in my general vicinity is my fucking business, because if I ignore it it will certainly become my problem in some capacity later on, so don't dare ask me why this is my business again.

    MIldly frustrated rant, but I think true.
     
    [X] I will not see the seven kingdoms tear themselves up in war and strife nor the will of fiends be done
    -[X] "If it was my desire to wrest my birthright back from Robert Baratheon, and we need not hide between the two of us that it is so, simply walking into the Red Keep and sitting upon the Iron Throne would be as contemptuously easy for me as it was to founder the latest attempts at seeing my works brought to ruin. I do not because it would erupt in as bloody a war as the one preceding it, nay, likely worse for all the fell artifice of fiends and the awesome power of sorcery would lend to it."
    -[X] "If care is not given to the panicked Great Houses, their vassals, the fey, the blasted devils, it will all end in fire and blood, with naught but ashes for any of us to rule over in the end. If I can claim myself as rightful heir to the works of my ancestors, how can I ever allow such diabolic machinations to be brought to fruition? To let my people die like dogs to sate the lust for power of mortal men and soul thirsting fiends?"
    -[X] "There is only so much that I can do, however. You are, by rights, heir to the Stormlands, for all that it might be denied to you by the likes of Tywin Lannister, always thirsting to place more of his cronies and blood in positions of prominence, who will not be content until he erodes the foundations of all dynasties that see themselves as his peers. I have similarly been stymied by such ambitions, for all that mine own I tempered."
    -[X] "I will speak plainly then: You are in between two forks in the road. In one, you continue to serve loyally a man who has spurned your dutiful service and disparaged you for failing to capture and put an end to frightened children in their youth, and again when they were beyond your means to defeat--denied you means of ransom when it was offered. It took the generosity of a replacement to even bring us to this point. The other road leads you to inheriting the Stormlands, which are yours by rights."
    -[X] "Swear fealty to me, and in the wars to come know that such service     will not go unrewarded."

    Edit: Don't actually vote for this. Stannis would never betray Robert. I'm just really frustrated because with any other man, it would totally work.
     
    @Crake Too soon. He's 80% of the way there, but he needs the slap in the face of Robert ordering Stannis to abandon Storm's End a second time, this time surrendering it to a Lannister Castellan holding it in trust for Tommen. If we manage a slower transition between Renly and Stannis, Stannis will have grown used to Storm's End, and his family will be there.
     
    I'm aware it's too soon. It'll always be too soon until Robert is cold and in the ground.

    [X] "Because it is my duty to protect the realm. Especially in times like these."
     
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    @Artemis1992 I think given how we ANNIHILATE literally all threats that show themselves, given how every fiend worshiping cult, every dark fey court, every terror from ancient days or distant shores is instantly a target that we accept responsibility for, for all that it might be chased by a lust for the treasures they possess, we can adequately claim that we've been fulfilling a duty that other Lords have been inadequate for.
    Adhoc vote count started by Crake on Jan 7, 2018 at 11:15 AM, finished with 136517 posts and 8 votes.
    • [X] "Because it is my duty to protect the realm. Especially in times like these."
      [X] Assume Medium Half Dragon.
      -[X] Put that STR into use.
      [X] There's nothing going on here that's not my business.
      -[X] If the Stormlands are infested with Devils or were ruled by a Fey-puppet (not that this Renly turned out to be one) that would become my problem, either on taking my throne or earlier.
      -[X] If Renly gets replaced before paying your ransom I won't see any of it.
      -[X] If some fiends plan to ruin my reputation by making what everyone thinks is Renly kill himself or get replaced in my care that's certainly my business.
      --[X] I sometimes feel like everything happening in my general vicinity is my fucking business, because if I ignore it it will certainly become my problem in some capacity later on, so don't dare ask me why this is my business again.
      [X] Plan "You want the truth? You can't handle the truth!"
      -[X] "You became my business when I plucked you from the deck of a ship rather than crushing you like an overripe melon. You sailed against my lands to bring death and destruction to all that I have built here, to murder my friends and family. I care not for your justifications, for your duty to the Usurper, your lout of a brother who would as soon piss on you as speak a kind word in your favor. Understand that I have been merciful in my dealings with you, far more so than I could have expected were our situations reversed. Despite your crimes, I have treated you with greater respect and honor than the Usurper ever has or ever will. Think on that, Stannis Baratheon."
      -[X] "You will not leave this island before the ransom is paid. The Usurper cannot be bothered to secure his brother's freedom for a sum less than he will spend in a single season of tourneys and feasting. The being now known as Renly Baratheon, however, is more than willing to pay for your release, so eager is he to see his brother freed."
      -[X] "That same being has all of your younger brother's memories, but rather than being a pale reflection of a reluctant boy lord, he is everything that the Renly you knew is not, a wise, just lord, well-loved by his people and bound by honor, such that upon learning of his true nature, he was devastated and immediately thought to abdicate to you. He is no spirit, no puppet, and he certainly no usurper, for it was your younger brother's own desire which placed him in Storm's End, to rule for him, to take his place because he was too weak to bear such responsibility."
      -[X] "That said, I have no interest in seeing the Seven Kingdoms, a land united by my ancestors after millennia of fruitless conflict, brought low by civil war, nor the machinations of fiends and even darker powers. Will you restrain your pride and bullheaded arrogance long enough to speak with the being who until just a few minutes ago thought he was the true Renly Baratheon?"
      -[X] "Before immediately jumping at the chance to take your ancestral seat at Storm's End, consider the Usurper's reaction to learning of these events. Do you think he will leave you in control, or perhaps appoint a Lannister as castellan until one of the royal children is of age?"
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    Artemis1992 said:
    Directly cut to Stannis?
    I'd prefer something more honest. It's not our duty to rotect the realm, indeed we'll destroy much of it in an attempt to rebuild it better, I'd guess.
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    It is honest. We honestly consider it our rightful holding, and those our rightful subjects. It's currently controlled by a usurper, but that doesn't mean we're willing to abandon the duty. This is kinda how we've been playing LN Viserys.

    Edit: I just realized there is a strong parallel between the situation between us and the seven kingdoms, and Stannis and Storm's End with fenly.
     
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    Azel said:
    We wouldn't have to burn down a single hut if people just acknowledged that we are right and the superior ruler.
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    I'm pretty sure the "dragging them in a new age kicking and screamin" will include some collateral damage.
    Diomedon said:
    It is honest. We honestly consider it our rightful holding, and those our rightful subjects. It's currently controlled by a usurper, but that doesn't mean we're willing to abandon the duty. This is kinda how we've been playing LN Viserys.
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    I've been hunting devils and MIndflayers for fun and profit.
    If that saved some NPCs it was incidental.
     
    Crake said:
    @Artemis1992 I think given how we ANNIHILATE literally all threats that show themselves, given how every fiend worshiping cult, every dark fey court, every terror from ancient days or distant shores is instantly a target that we accept responsibility for, for all that it might be chased by a lust for the treasures they possess, we can adequately claim that we've been fulfilling a duty that other Lords have been inadequate for.
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    Excluding the Wisps.

    We really need to kill those two. Or, by this time, I want to capture them alive and brainmelt them into becoming SD's guides. Who needs Lantern Archons when you can modify CE fey to serve you?
     
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