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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:
A Conspiracy of Dragons​

Nineteenth Day of the Twelfth Month 292 AC

"I would know of dragons, then," you say. "Of their coming to Westeros, the building of the Dragonpit, their flowering and withering, as well as how I might hatch the egg that I possess and these others you have told me of. Was it a curse upon the Dragonpit, some conspiracy, or simple mischance that saw to their fall?"

"Again you ask for history, before dealing with the future before you," the old sorcerer replies. "And here I thought that it was the privilege of the old to bore their descendants with tales of days long passed." He sounds lighthearted, not something most would associate with the ghastly figure bound and sustained in bone-white roots, but so it seems to you nonetheless.

He speaks on in what must have once been a voice trained to shout commands across a battlefield, now little more than a whisper but somehow no less powerful for it. "Many claim the Dragonpit was cursed for having been built upon the ashes of the Sept of Remembrance. For myself I do not believe it, not only for having felt no malice beneath the broken dome, save perhaps the lingering weight of those who died to Dreamfyre's flame. The Storming of the Dragonpit holds a certain grim humor if you will consider it. Driven by their preacher the mob marched out to avenge Helaena and her children, and it was her dragon that slew most of them. Even beyond my appreciation of the Seven's capacity for ironic slaughter or lack thereof, however, the supposed cause and effect do not match up. The Dragonpit was built by Maegor, not Aegon the Third, and if the dragons somehow grew less in that period, well, no one seems to have told the lunatic traitors who used these 'lesser' dragons to bring about the Dance and the near-ruin of the Seven Kingdoms."

"So you think it was a natural thing, a lessening of magic perhaps?" Dany asks.

"It might have been," Bloodraven admits. "But to one of my experience it is impossible not to entertain at least the possibility of conspiracy. Yet if I would have to search for it it would be among the regents of the boy king Aegon the Third or..." he hesitates. There would be very few in that distant age he should have any reason to avoid accusing before you.

"The young king himself," you guess. "The boy who saw his mother devoured by a dragon before his very eyes, who had to rule a land in the shadow of the Dance and its horrors. You think Aegon Dragonbane deserved his title fully."

"I think he would have been too young to be at the head of such a conspiracy," the ancient Sorcerer says. "But he might have guessed later and offered his tacit approval, or simply done nothing as the dragons died." He sighs a soft rattling sound. "As I said this is merely my guess, but one thing I know for certain—the more brutal the war the more grudges it leaves behind. No war in the history of the Seven Kingdoms has been more vicious than the Dance. If the smallfolk could blame 'all dragons' for their ill fate and die in their thousands to 'avenge' themselves, why not the nobles? Why not the king?"

"The dragons were the steel fist of the royal House against the high nobles, but Aegon was raised as much or more by those same high nobles as by his kin," Dany muses. "It fits well enough, though it matters little so late. What thoughts have you on turning fate upon its head?"

"I have never seriously considered the matter since I was very young and dreaming a young man's dreams, but what I managed to gleam then I will share," Brynden Rivers replies. "For the egg you recovered from the Lannisters I would say give it to the girl to hold at all times, particularly when she is practicing sorcery. Teach her to conjure fire and have her cast it upon it each day at sunset, for that is when dragon mothers often returned from the hunt."

"And for the eggs of stone?" you ask.

"For that, one should remember that we live in an age of marvels... What is stone may yet be flesh to the sorcerer's will." His staring red eye fixes upon a stone the size of a large dog tumbled near the far wall of the cave. The spell he works then is no petty cantrip, but one as potent or more so than any you have ever worked. "From stone, life!" he commands, and so where there had before been a stone there is now a lump of reddish meat.

"You think the stone dragons are petrified, as though touched by a gorgon's breath?" you ask, wondering why the notion never came to you. Perhaps you had simply been to fixated on the transformation from flesh to stone being weapon.

"It would seem a marvelous protection against the fading of magic, would it not?" Bloodraven says. "Once flesh has been transmuted one is neither living nor dead, not dependent on constant magic to endure, and of course as hard to damage as stone. Should that stone also be enveloped in the hard shell of dragon eggs, I would not be surprised if an unborn dragon could endure thus millennia."

"But who then would undo the magic?" Ser Richard asks, ever one to see flaws in wild flights of fancy.

"Dragons were not always mere beasts," Dany says grimly, though there is triumph lurking in her eyes.
What do you do next?

[] Ask more questions
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[] Speak with the Children of the Forest again
-[] Write in

[] Resurrect Rhaella

OOC: I really was a little surprised no one considered Stone to Flesh when speaking of stone dragon eggs.
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Didn't think it would be that easy tbh

Edit: to just use stone to flesh on an egg.
 
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A bit off topic but do you think we'll be upgrading our keep anytime soon? I figure actually doing that would be months away but the completionist in me cries at our stronghold's stats.
 
Azel said:
I'm itching to do something fancy with it too, but I just don't see us doing it at any point within the next 3 years. Both in-game and real-life years.

Edit: That weird moment when you notice you've been arguing with the same people over the same stuff for nearly 2 years.
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Blame DP for writing the dagger's tale so well then. The only reason I give a damn about the item is because of it's story. :)
 
Helo89 said:
A bit off topic but do you think we'll be upgrading our keep anytime soon? I figure actually doing that would be months away but the completionist in me cries at our stronghold's stats.
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I think the reason we haven't been upgrading it, is we sorta plan on building an awe inspiring one from the ground up when we have a chance (we'll have time to begin, oh...a two-ish months after Tyrosh falls I think?).

TotallyNotEvil said:
Starfish Knight will have to adapt.

This "no humans no matter they are as bad as demons" thing is getting way too tiresome.
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It's not "no humans, no matter they are as bad as demons" it's "You must be actively working against mankind." This is easier for demons, devil, and mindflayers to do, but apocalypse cults, etc. are perfectly applicable as well, regardless of species.

And it isn't just Waymar who would be against it. Maelor decided to trust us and join the party fully because we hung the slavers instead of sacrificed them for magical power.
 
AoD_Patr said:
TBH, I'm against treating a full-fledged PC character (potential) with affinity to magic as a glorified accessory to their mount.
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Yeah, but putting a pure caster on a dragon is kinda pointless, because they would work much better individually than together. And if we make a class that works well on dragonback, then they obviously cannot also be a full caster due balance issues.

A random idea: What if we give Rhaella a dragon? Who knows, she might enjoy burning things...

Raichu1972 said:
Dragonstone is officially part of the Iron Throne though.

Like, smashing Bobby's fleet is one thing, but taking someone's land, land that you claim to be yours, will make others think that you're going to want to take the rest, too.
There's no reason why Viserys would take Dragonstone, just off the coast of King's Landing, and then just sit on it, when everyone knows that he still desires the Iron Throne.

You can think of Aegon parallels, but unlike Aegon, Viserys wouldn't be conquering a foreign land, he would be taking back what is his by birthright.
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True enough, but why would the loyalist lords declare for us before we even ask them to? Even if BBB himself takes conquering Dragonstone as a declaration of war, then so what? We are already enemies and his fleet was gutted. It's not like he can tell his knights and levies to swim to Dragonstone. As long as whatever supporters we have in Westeros keep their heads down, there won't be anyone for the Baratheons to fight.
 
Diomedon said:
I think the reason we haven't been upgrading it, is we sorta plan on building an awe inspiring one from the ground up when we have a chance (we'll have time to begin, oh...a two-ish months after Tyrosh falls I think?).



It's not "no humans, no matter they are as bad as demons" it's "You must be actively working against mankind." This is easier for demons, devil, and mindflayers to do, but apocalypse cults, etc. are perfectly applicable as well, regardless of species.

And it isn't just Waymar who would be against it. Maelor decided to trust us and join the party fully because we hung the slavers instead of sacrificed them for magical power.
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Personally I would want to sacrifice at least the slave breeders, even amongst slavers those are a particularly vile kind, yeah the average slaver don't deserve to be sacrificed, but the worst amongst them do in my opinion, those who enjoy torturing their slaves, if we got ahold of the guy who was going to torture Leilah to demonstrate his wares, I would certainly want him sacrificed.
 
Raichu1972 said:
Dragonstone is officially part of the Iron Throne though.

Like, smashing Bobby's fleet is one thing, but taking someone's land, land that you claim to be yours, will make others think that you're going to want to take the rest, too.
There's no reason why Viserys would take Dragonstone, just off the coast of King's Landing, and then just sit on it, when everyone knows that he still desires the Iron Throne.

You can think of Aegon parallels, but unlike Aegon, Viserys wouldn't be conquering a foreign land, he would be taking back what is his by birthright.
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I meant the Iron Throne as in the actual, bonafide Iron Throne, the one in the Red Keep. As for birthright, one might say that was lost with the success of Robert's Rebellion.

That aside, I still don't see why what few Loyalists are left or the lords in general will risk their lives, their lands and their futures on something that's not a sure deal? They would wait until we've actually made landfall to risk it all.
 
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Diomedon said:
I think the reason we haven't been upgrading it, is we sorta plan on building an awe inspiring one from the ground up when we have a chance (we'll have time to begin, oh...a two-ish months after Tyrosh falls I think?).

It's not "no humans, no matter they are as bad as demons" it's "You must be actively working against mankind." This is easier for demons, devil, and mindflayers to do, but apocalypse cults, etc. are perfectly applicable as well, regardless of species.

And it isn't just Waymar who would be against it. Maelor decided to trust us and join the party fully because we hung the slavers instead of sacrificed them for magical power.
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Slavers are enemies of mankind. Planetos is is full of those who practice or condone slavery. Thus, it is our duty to remove that plague on mankind.

By sacrificing them for ever greater power!
 
Random Shinobi said:
Yeah, but putting a pure caster on a dragon is kinda pointless, because they would work much better individually than together. And if we make a class that works well on dragonback, then they obviously cannot also be a full caster due balance issues.

A random idea: What if we give Rhaella a dragon? Who knows, she might enjoy burning things...

True enough, but why would the loyalist lords declare for us before we even ask them to? Even if BBB himself takes conquering Dragonstone as a declaration of war, then so what? We are already enemies and his fleet was gutted. It's not like he can tell his knights and levies to swim to Dragonstone. As long as whatever supporters we have in Westeros keep their heads down, there won't be anyone for the Baratheons to fight.
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People like Aruane Waters will take the opportunity to get people killed to settle grudges, so that's a headache i'd like to avoid untill we're in a position to stop it.
 
[X] Duesal
@Duesal can you think of any other particular statue that might be a powerful being hibernating the lack of Magic? The dragon eggs might have that as innate protection, but surely someone else thought of It.
 
tarrangar said:
Personally I would want to sacrifice at least the slave breeders, even amongst slavers those are a particularly vile kind, yeah the average slaver don't deserve to be sacrificed, but the worst amongst them do in my opinion, those who enjoy torturing their slaves, if we got ahold of the guy who was going to torture Leilah to demonstrate his wares, I would certainly want him sacrificed.
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Goldfish said:
Slavers are enemies of mankind. Planetos is is full of those who practice or condone slavery. Thus, it is our duty to remove that plague on mankind.

By sacrificing them for ever greater power!
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I feel we will get there eventually, but merely a man calling another man his property is still seen as a type of "civilization" by too many. It's the norm for most of Essos, and so to claim it the same level of evil as those who consort with beings who see humans as food (either brains or soul) will meet too much resistance. They just don't have the tools to accept it, and will instead interpret it as us being opportunistic and selfish (merely finding excuses to sacrifice people and seize their wealth).

There's the fact, too, that we will have to forgive a great deal of past evil in the name of future peace (and avoiding atrocities of our own). We cannot hang every person who held slaves in Tyrosh, both for practical reasons, PR reasons, and because the consequences would necessitate atrocities on our part (which would severely depress Viserys and strain his party relations). So to jump from forgiveness -> ritual sacrifice is too great a gradient.

We will mostly forgive most slaveholders, though freeing their slaves will be seen as a punishment by them (as will be any further wealth we take as recompense for their slavery practices). The worst (most prolific slave traders/takers, slave breeders/breakers, people like that torturer guy) will be sifted out and executed as examples that we mean what we say when it comes to slavery. Not every execution needs to be a sacrifice. And finally, those who sought power by betraying mankind will be sacrificed (the apocalypse cults, anything they summon, etc.).

Edit: We will have sacrifices enough, I'm fairly sure.
 
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Diomedon said:
I feel we will get there eventually, but merely a man calling another man his property is still seen as a type of "civilization" by too many. It's the norm for most of Essos, and so to claim it the same level of evil as those who consort with beings who see humans as food (either brains or soul) will meet too much resistance. They just don't have the tools to accept it, and will instead interpret it as us being opportunistic and selfish (merely finding excuses to sacrifice people and seize their wealth).

There's the fact, too, that we will have to forgive a great deal of past evil in the name of future peace (and avoiding atrocities of our own). We cannot hang every person who held slaves in Tyrosh, both for practical reasons, PR reasons, and because the consequences would necessitate atrocities on our part (which would severely depress Viserys and strain his party relations). So to jump from forgiveness -> ritual sacrifice is too great a gradient.

We will mostly forgive most slaveholders, though freeing their slaves will be seen as a punishment by them (as will be any further wealth we take as recompense for their slavery practices). The worst (most prolific slave traders/takers, slave breeders/breakers, people like that torturer guy) will be sifted out and executed as examples that we mean what we say when it comes to slavery. Not every execution needs to be a sacrifice. And finally, those who sought power by betraying mankind will be sacrificed (the apocalypse cults, anything they summon, etc.).

Edit: We will have sacrifices enough, I'm fairly sure.
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For me it's not about the sacrifices, it's about the fact that guys such as the torture guy is far viler than the Sahuagin, so it don't feel right sacrificing them, and giving him a clean death.
 
We'll have to content ourselves with the fact that the torturer guy (and people like him) will have lost most of his property and endured a painful death by hanging.
 
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Part MDCXL: To Plot Gods' Ruin
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    • To Plot Gods' Ruin ​

    Nineteenth Day of the Twelfth Month 292 AC

    Again your thoughts turn to the bone in your pack... no, not yet. It would not do for the first things your mother hears upon being returned to life, if she wills it, to be the questions you have yet to ask, of your sworn duty to break the Faith, to humble the Seven themselves. Perhaps something of Lya's systematic nature is finally catching on for the first thing you ask is of the nature of the Seven, the reasons behind their hatred of all magic which they do not grant. "Where do they come from and what do they want, not the corrupt septons, nor the zealous preachers, the gods."

    "Andalos," Bloodraven replies dryly. "The first the Old Gods knew of were as raiders in longboats, coming across the Narrow Sea, armed with iron and steel. Then they came to rule, to farm and to preach. I fear there is no grand revelation of the divine I can grant you, your grace, but if you would humor by penchant for supposition there are certain conclusions that can be drawn from the acts of their followers and the timing of their invasion. Valyria was blooming them, an empire of dragons and of sorcery that cared not for their gods or their prowess at war. The Seven Pointed Star speaks of the promised land to the west. More honestly I think it would be to speak of creeping doom in the east. Perhaps the Seven foresaw the end of their chosen people and thus likely even their own demise."

    "A warrior trained to be brave will run more readily towards promised reward than away from a foe, that is true," Ser Richard remarks. "And a man with his spirit unbroken makes a finer conqueror."

    Out of the corner of your eye you look at the man whom your brother had knighted, charged with the duties of that calling in the name of the Seven-who-are-One. If there is any thread of hesitation still about him here speaking of conspiracy against those very gods, you do not see it.

    Bloodraven picks up the thread of his tale. "Knowing what I do now of fiends and their ilk, I suspect something of the tales of demons stalking the hills of Andalos is truth not later embellishment. If that is so then between the slave raids of the Freehold's colonies and the depredations of fiends, the early Andals had no cause to love magic or those who worked it."

    "I think we may have more than supposition and ancient texts behind the notion," Dany says slowly,turning to you. "Remember the cursed altar along the Braavosi coast, the one the fool noble unearthed? That would not be so far from Andalos of old, certainly not for a demon who can fly." She smiles, an expression that sits oddly upon a human face. "Time and past time to see Lileath again, I think."

    "The succubus whose offspring you... recruited?" The ancient sorcerer does not sound entirely pleased with the notion.

    "She has not betrayed us so far," you say, feeling slightly absurd for defending Azema's 'honor'. "Her use has far outweighed any bother she has caused."

    "Of course," he agrees. "I only worry that when she chooses to show her colors it will be too late. It is one thing for your enemies to accuse you of consorting with demons and quite another for them to have proof, your grace."

    "So what would you have me do, kill her as a preventive measure?" Your question hangs in the air a long moment, the silence making it clear that Bloodraven would have done just that without a moment's hesitation.

    Finally he sighs. "Perhaps I am wrong, it has been known to happen on occasion."

    Taking that for an end to that topic you then ask if there are any other artifacts of the Seven such as the Chalice he spoke of. You can think of much better use for such things than to cast a misguided curse.

    "I do not know of any yet but I am seeking them, just as I keep my eye on their champions when and where I can," he answers.

    "How many such champions are there, and where did you last see them?" you ask urgently.

    "Seven, there must be seven at least, one for each face of their god," Bloodraven replies with certainty. "Of them I know of the Maiden's Chosen in Old Town having braved the depths beneath the Hightower, a boy chosen of the Smith whom I glimpsed in the Westerlands, and an old woman who... was the Crone's chosen."

    "What happened to her?" Dany asks.

    "She accosted a friend of Edmure Tully, young heir to the Riverlads, named him thief and even tried to use magic against him. Obviously Lord Tully could not stand for such and outrage. She lost her head, her followers were set wandering and were even excommunicated by the High Septon for their 'heretical' beliefs."

    "How were common armsmen able to slay a god's chosen?" you ask suspiciously.

    "The friend to the young Tully heir is a singer from Skaagos, with his own peculiar gifts," Bloodraven replies, satisfied.

    When it becomes clear that he is not going to offer any more information on the matter you tell him of the young lady of Tarth who had shown herself the Warrior's Chosen, though with some trepidation. You swiftly mention your intention to slowly turn her from the Seven, and indeed your willingness to at least entertain the notion for the others. Even beyond not wishing harm on a child who had done nothing but protecting her home from fiends the Dornish had clearly shown the worth of turning mage-priests from their gods.

    "There is something to be said for encouraging treachery before open attack," the Last Greenseer agrees, head moving in the closest approximation of a nod he can manage. "If the Tarth girl becomes so much of a bother that I consider forceful measures I will mention it to you beforehand, that you may speed up your own plans. Is that satisfactory, your grace?"

    "Yes," you agree simply. "One last thing, I would know more of what I must do to fulfill my pact. What constitutes ending a House in the eyes of the Old Gods? Killing them all? Sending all them men to the Wall and the women to the Silent Sisters?"

    "Not the latter for the Seven would find that pleasing. Have them wed some lesser lording their children to bear his name and it will be enough," he replies, to your mild surprise. "Mistake me not, there are those among the Greendream who wish for nothing less then bloody vengeance, their entrails hung upon Heart Trees as a warning to others and a sign of rage, but in all things there must be limits... even the vengeance of gods."

    "And how might the Seven be humbled?" you ask after a moment.

    "It would be best not to answer that," Bloodraven replies. "If I speak of specific deeds then you might find yourself beholden to them. Let us see how the Seven Kingdoms look upon the eve of restoration first."

    What do you do next?

    [] Ask more questions
    -[] Write in

    [] Speak with the Children of the Forest again
    -[] Write in

    [] Resurrect Rhaella

    OOC: The request for druids did not really fit in here, so I left it out for now.
     
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    • [X] Resurrect Rhaella

    We can talk about Westeros in general and its current state once she lives again.
    It will be relativly familiar to her.

    DragonParadox said:
    "She accosted a friend of Edmure Tully, young heir to the Riverlads, named him their even and tried to use magic against him. Obviously the Lord Tully could not stand for such and outrage. She lost her head, her followers were set wandering and were even excommunicated by the High Septon for their 'heretical' beliefs."
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    A Bard and a young lordling against a true Cleric? They must have had a lot of luck or very good planning.
    With Bloodravens hand in the game likely both.
     
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