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

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Interlude CXCIV: To Play in Earnest
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    • To Play in Earnest ​

    Eighteenth Day of the Twelfth Month 292 AC

    Mercy was enjoying herself tremendously swirling as a cloud in the upper reaches of the warehouse as she watched the cloaked men and women move through the maze of improved barricades, traps, and small ambushes by the "monsters" that inhabited the place. The sign of a monster was of course a red arm-band, and black for the investigators. Hulking minotaurs, clever calpinas, and even the grumbling stone folk made up the ad-hoc company that had been gathered for the game... or as most of others insisted on calling it, the exercise.

    Personally Mercy could not see what the guardsmen had against the word 'game.' True she was only days old, but she was morally certain she would always enjoy games. Even could she count a hundred years she would never get tired of games... The young woman's mussing on the silliness of people who wear too much iron were interrupted by the sight of a minotaur with a young man in the robe of a scholarum initiate riding atop her shoulders, crashing though one of the dividing walls to break the 'inner sanctum' where the 'stolen artifact' was. It was time for the Dread Vampire Mercy to make her entrance. She could not keep back a most un-vampire-like giggle as she descended in a swirl of luminous mist to tag... that is 'mark' her victims.

    Mercy considered being a good sport and trying to run her mouth off while the heroes made some kind of plan, but they could not count on that happening were this for real and fun as the game was for her she understood that it served a very important purpose. Thus the first sign of her appearance that the duo of investigators had was a cone of blazing golden sparks showering them both.

    Unfortunately both her foes of the moment had learned well the lessons taught by dozens of painful traps strewn throughout the battleground and closed their eyes tightly. The blunted crossbow bolt she dodged easily. Alas the same could not be said for the near half-a-ton of unfairly leaping muscle and horn. Mercy was very glad for the soothing power that surged instinctively through her veins soothing bruises and jerking her broken wrist back the way it should be. It was rather hard to work magic with a broken hand after all.

    Though she knew a proper vampire in her position might try to wrestle the mountain of a warrior down so it could drink blood, Mercy could not a think of a way to do that, especially with her head ringing and so she rose free, a wisp of fog upon the air once more. There, much better one's head could not ring if it did not properly exist after all.

    Now came the important bit, from what Ser Gerold had said. What would the mage and his horned companion do when presented with Mercy's unexpected presence?

    After only three heart-beats the horn rang clear through the warehouse, calling not for reinforcements, but a retreat and regrouping, just as they had been told to do when faced with a foe they had no true means to counter. Had the threat been true the guard would have returned with holy symbols for the devout, mirrors and garlic for the rest, or more likely, aid of the disgruntled and fiery kind.

    Mercy was happy at how the game she had conceived of had run, even if she did still have to call it an exercise.

    OOC: Though it was Mercy's idea, Ser Gerold organized most of this with advice from the PCs.
     
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    • DragonParadox said:
    To Play in Earnest ​

    Eighteenth Day of the Twelfth Month 292 AC

    Mercy was enjoying herself tremendously swirling as a cloud in the upper reaches of the warehouse as she watched the cloaked men and women move through the maze of improved barricades, traps, and small ambushes by the "monsters" that inhabited the place. The sign of a monster was of course a red arm-band, and black for the investigators. Hulking minotaurs, clever calpinas, and even the grumbling stone folk made up the ad-hoc company that had been gathered for the game... or as most of others insisted on calling it, the exercise.

    Personally Mercy could not see what the guardsmen had against the word 'game.' True she was only days old, but she was morally certain she would always enjoy games. Even could she count a hundred years she would never get tired of games... The young woman's mussing on the silliness of people who wear too much iron were interrupted by the sight of a minotaur with a young man in the robe of a scholarum initiate riding atop her shoulders, crashing though one of the dividing walls to break the 'inner sanctum' where the 'stolen artifact' was. It was time for the Dread Vampire Mercy to make her entrance. She could not keep back a most un-vampire-like giggle as she descended in a swirl of luminous mist to tag... that is 'mark' her victims.

    Mercy considered being a good sport and trying to run her mouth off while the heroes made some kind of plan, but they could not count on that happening were this for real and fun as the game was for her she understood that it served a very important purpose. Thus the first sign of her appearance that the duo of investigators had was a cone of blazing golden sparks showering them both.

    Unfortunately both her foes of the moment had learned well the lessons taught by dozens of painful traps strewn throughout the battleground and closed their eyes tightly. The blunted crossbow bolt she dodged easily. Alas the same could not be said for the near half-a-ton of unfairly leaping muscle and horn. Mercy was very glad for the soothing power that surged instinctively through her veins soothing bruises and jerking her broken wrist back the way it should be. It was rather hard to work magic with a broken hand after all.

    Though she knew a proper vampire in her position might try to wrestle the mountain of a warrior down so it could drink blood, Mercy could not a think of a way to do that, especially with her head ringing and so she rose free, a wisp of fog upon the air once more. There, much better one's head could not ring if it did not properly exist after all.

    Now came the important bit, from what Ser Gerold had said. What would the mage and his horned companion do when presented with Mercy's unexpected presence?

    After only three heart-beats the trumpet rang clear through the warehouse, calling not for reinforcements, but a retreat and regrouping, just as they had been told to do when faced with a foe they had no true means to counter. Has the threat been true the guard would have returned with holy symbols for the devout, mirrors and garlic for the rest, or more likely, aid of the disgruntled and fiery kind.

    Mercy was happy at how the game she had conceived of had run, even if she did still have to call it an exercise.

    OOC: Though it was Mercy's idea, Ser Gerold organized most of this with advice from the PCs.
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    I admit i was not a fan of the concept of mercy, but this turned me around, great work DP.
     
    Azel said:
    Statements like these make wonder. Do you have a background in construction, architecture or landscaping?
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    Not a formal background, but I've always been quite into architecture. As a preteen/teenager, I once asked for "Earth Sheltered Housing Design: Guidelines, Examples, and References" by the Underground Space Center of the University of Minnesota for my birthday. From architecture it's natural to expand both into process (construction) and landscaping, so I have a fairly hefty informal background on the subject (designing houses/castles/fortifications, etc. has been a hobby for some time at this point).

    My formal background is in Psychology. Which should probably clear some things up in my approach to some types of problems. ;)
     
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    BeepSmile said:
    Brravos in a few years - a wildling enters the city, and finds the more that s/he has always yearned for, seeks knowledge and loves the city for being the crossroads, the melting pot. So much life!

    Or finds a god with the domain. Don't suppose there's a god of civilization in d&d cosmology?

    I doubt there's anything like it in GoT lol.
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    I don't remember 3.5 cosmology clearly, but Pathfinder has a god of civilization - Abadar.
    Abadar - PathfinderWiki

    Pathfinder doesn't have City domain, but Abadar has some very civilization-centric domains and subdomains - like Legislation subdomain of Law, for example. For bonus points his sacred animal is monkey and one of his sacred colors is silver - a natural fit for Little Valyrians!
     
    DragonParadox said:
    Mercy was very glad for the soothing power that surged instinctively through her veins soothing bruises and jerking her broken wrist back the way it should be.
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    One has to wonder how the planning session for this went.

    Gerold: "And you are sure that you can take it when the guards fire crossbows at you? The bolts are blunted, but that doesn't make that much of a difference..."
    Mercy: "Oh don't worry. I'll be fine." *draws her sleeve back and pulls out a knife before stabbing her own arm repeatedly*
    Gerold: :o
    Mercy: *wipes a way the blood to show her unblemished skin* "See? All fine."
    Gerold: "Alright." :confused:
    Mercy: "What?"
    Lya: "Uhm... You remember that talk we had about things that normal people might find creepy?"
    Mercy: "Yes?"
    Lya: "That's one of them."

    DragonParadox said:
    aid of the disgruntled and fiery kind
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    Vampire: "The king himself comes to my humble abode! Had I known that you would come, I would have prepared something, but as it stands, all the hospitality I can offer are a few servants..." *gestures and the few piles of bones rise as skeletons*
    Viserys: "Yeah. Whatever." *snaps his fingers and burns the whole bunch to ashes* "You interrupted some quality time with the missus with your antics. The next part will be a lot less painful for you if you just tell me if I have to hunt down more of your kind before returning to her."
    Vampire: "You don't frighten me mortal! I have warded myself against your flames! The great vampire--"
    Viserys: "Too many pointless talking noises. Hope your skull isn't as chatty." *casts PAINdarts*
    Vampire: *screams*
    Viserys: *to the guards behind him* "Get his skull once he stops twitching and throw the rest into the sea. I've got places to be." *pops out*
     
    DragonParadox said:
    To Play in Earnest ​

    Eighteenth Day of the Twelfth Month 292 AC

    Mercy was enjoying herself tremendously swirling as a cloud in the upper reaches of the warehouse as she watched the cloaked men and women move through the maze of improved barricades, traps, and small ambushes by the "monsters" that inhabited the place. The sign of a monster was of course a red arm-band, and black for the investigators. Hulking minotaurs, clever calpinas, and even the grumbling stone folk made up the ad-hoc company that had been gathered for the game... or as most of others insisted on calling it, the exercise.

    Personally Mercy could not see what the guardsmen had against the word 'game.' True she was only days old, but she was morally certain she would always enjoy games. Even could she count a hundred years she would never get tired of games... The young woman's mussing on the silliness of people who wear too much iron were interrupted by the sight of a minotaur with a young man in the robe of a scholarum initiate riding atop her shoulders, crashing though one of the dividing walls to break the 'inner sanctum' where the 'stolen artifact' was. It was time for the Dread Vampire Mercy to make her entrance. She could not keep back a most un-vampire-like giggle as she descended in a swirl of luminous mist to tag... that is 'mark' her victims.

    Mercy considered being a good sport and trying to run her mouth off while the heroes made some kind of plan, but they could not count on that happening were this for real and fun as the game was for her she understood that it served a very important purpose. Thus the first sign of her appearance that the duo of investigators had was a cone of blazing golden sparks showering them both.

    Unfortunately both her foes of the moment had learned well the lessons taught by dozens of painful traps strewn throughout the battleground and closed their eyes tightly. The blunted crossbow bolt she dodged easily. Alas the same could not be said for the near half-a-ton of unfairly leaping muscle and horn. Mercy was very glad for the soothing power that surged instinctively through her veins soothing bruises and jerking her broken wrist back the way it should be. It was rather hard to work magic with a broken hand after all.

    Though she knew a proper vampire in her position might try to wrestle the mountain of a warrior down so it could drink blood, Mercy could not a think of a way to do that, especially with her head ringing and so she rose free, a wisp of fog upon the air once more. There, much better one's head could not ring if it did not properly exist after all.

    Now came the important bit, from what Ser Gerold had said. What would the mage and his horned companion do when presented with Mercy's unexpected presence?

    After only three heart-beats the horn rang clear through the warehouse, calling not for reinforcements, but a retreat and regrouping, just as they had been told to do when faced with a foe they had no true means to counter. Had the threat been true the guard would have returned with holy symbols for the devout, mirrors and garlic for the rest, or more likely, aid of the disgruntled and fiery kind.

    Mercy was happy at how the game she had conceived of had run, even if she did still have to call it an exercise.

    OOC: Though it was Mercy's idea, Ser Gerold organized most of this with advice from the PCs.
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    Great interlude, DP. Thanks for further humanizing Mercy! :)
     
    I think I missed something. Then again you lads have posted 100 pages since I last posted. When did Dany become half-Celestial?
     
    Arimai said:
    Huh. We can take on templates!? Well damn. I would have opted for a more combat oriented form.
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    Azel said:
    Only Dany can do that as part of her PrC.
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    And Half-Celestial is an almost ideal combat oriented form for a Cleric.

    Across the board attribute boosts, especially to Wisdom and Charisma, Damage Reduction, Spell Resistance, several useful resistances, and a long list of SLAs, some of which are very powerful.
     
    Deliste said:
    I want Viserys to get some things back from his early days, it was sad when he felt the loss of still spell.

    I was hoping we could rework his Alter Self forms into something useful. Turning into the Horned Felldrake as rare as it was, was very cool when it happened.
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    If it's any consolation, I'm probably going to advocate for us to relearn Still Spell as Viserys' 15th level feat. We need a +1 Metamagic feat to make full use of Arcane Spellgrace, and Still Spell is as good an option as any.
     
    TotallyNotEvil said:
    @Duesal as we are asking the wildfire can you please add how we would go about nuking Mindflayer Central?
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    Sure, adding that in now. If there's anywhere we can ask that or even think about it, this is the place. The wards here are something I want to aspire to in our Imperium Fortress.

    EDIT: Finished adding it in.

    EDIT 2: Also, I fucking love the Retconned Staff. That Commune With Nature spell especially.
     
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