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

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[X] "It is not only our foes who stir. The ancient gods of stream and stone awaken too and they gladly aid those who stand against their ancient enemies in the north."
 
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Part MDCLIX: Taking Counsel with Crows
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    • Taking Counsel with Crows ​

    Twenty-Third Day of the Twelfth Month 292 AC

    "It is not only cold things and dead things that stir, the Old Gods wake to face their ancient foes. The streams and stones whisper to those with the ear to listen even now," you answer, implying a slightly closer kinship with the Old Gods than you have without technically lying. Then again you probably could create something like that map if you spent several years charting the trackless north staff in hand.

    It is to that staff that three sets of eyes gaze, Aemon with understanding, the Lord Commander with respect, and Ser Thorne with wariness. "It is good to know someone is watching upon all this kindly, then," he says at last. The knight has the look of a man who has stumbled over questions he would rather not ask himself.

    "The gods will do as they will, but it is still men who must stand forth and bear arms to protect themselves and their fellows," says the Lord Commander, pushing the matter aside.

    "Well said," you agree. "To that end I have several requests of the Watch. Firstly, access to your archives and documents that may pertain to our foes or other useful matters in these dark days, with the pledge of not only sharing anything found but copying and restoring the documents to the best of my abilities and those of my companions."

    "Done," the Lord Commander replies instantly at which Maester Aemon does not even try to hide his smile, not only for the aid itself you suspect, but for the chance to spend time with kin without feeling he is shirking in his duties in so doing.

    "Second, I would ask for the chance to send ships Beyond the Wall to the Free Folk to take from those shores of those that will come..."

    Ser Thorne gives a disbelieving snort. "What the hells would you want with wildlings? The bloody savages will probably cut your captain's throat mid-journey, try to turn pirate, then sink for being too stupid to remember they can't sail."

    "It is not so much what we want them, and more what the Others could make of their corpses," Dany answers sharply. "Have you not been listening?"

    The knight starts as a man unexpectedly finding himself faced with a viper, but to his credit he merely grumbles, "Be better for all decent men to just slit their throats and burn them."

    "I do not think they would go willingly to knife or pyre, Ser Alister," Maester Aemon chides him softly. "Let us concern ourselves not with the grudges of men before that which would be the end of us all."

    Through all this the Lord Commander had been silent, but now at last he speaks. "Wisely said. Even if I had the ships to counter you, which I hear even the king does not, it would be rankest folly to think of doing so when you are taking the bloody savages away. To tell the truth I could not care less if you shipped them to Asshai as long as they no longer trouble us or the North, living or dead."

    And so you find yourself with all your requests swiftly and ungrudgingly granted. What further aid will you offer the Night's Watch beyond the promised Dragonglass?

    [] Gold
    -[] Write in sum

    [] Arms
    -[] Write in how many

    [] Magic items
    -[] Write in

    [] Write in

    OOC: Next up talking with Aemon and copying books, which will also include information on what the Watch has been facing as well as including Rhaella.
     
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    • Missed the previous vote, but not this one. We do have years to work with them. We'll have Lya brought up here in a few months to study the wall and create items for them.

    Magpie, what do you propose?

    [X] Duesal
     
    Duesal said:
    @DragonParadox, what would Viserys consider a generous sum of gold which would supply the Night's Watch for years to come?
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    Well the Night's Watch are in incredibly dire straits in pretty much all ways so on the order of thousands of gold. 5000 would be middling for what they need, 10000 would be the upper end of reasonable.

    Azel said:
    @DragonParadox, what about our offer to train crows in magic?
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    That is probably best done after your start delivering on stuff since it is quite radical.
     
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    Right, not too keen on a lot of gold, but if the Xorn show up before the next century we can give them as many weapons and armor as they need (no thinblades though, those are our legion weapons).

    The magical dragon statue is an excellent idea I'd support, but not made out of dragonglass. One spiteful bastard tipping it over and it wpuld wreck.
     
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    DragonParadox said:
    Well the Night's Watch are in incredibly dire straits in pretty much all ways so on the order of thousands of gold. 5000 would be middling for what they need, 10000 would be the upper end of reasonable.
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    Thank you! :)
    DragonParadox said:
    That is probably best done after your start delivering on stuff since it is quite radical.
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    I mean, we have gold with us right now. Could we make the offer right after we give them the gold? That would be delivering on stuff, wouldn't it?
    bigbow said:
    Right, not too keen on a lot of gold, but if the Xorn show up before the next century we can give them as many weapons and armor as they need (no thinblades though, those are our legion weapons).

    The dragon statue is an excellent idea I'd support, but not made out of dragonglass. One spiteful bastard tipping it over and it wpuld wreck.
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    The base amount of 5000 IM made me wince, but the Night's Watch need it, and at our current wealth we can tank the cost. Hell, even with the upcoming Tyrosh conquest and our future spending spree in the Plane of Air we are in fantastic shape with our finances.

    That being said we don't have to pay 5000 right this second. Maybe 2500 IM.

    Anyway, base plan:

    1. 2500 IM
    2. Ask them what kinds of arms and armor they desire, and how many they need, and make sure they know they shouldn't worry about cost in this instance since we will take care of everything (so they don't avoid asking for higher-quality stuff) then when we start supplying them we just give them double since it's going to be dirt-cheap for us.
    3. Amulets of PfE are rather costly for us to make, but we can provide them to the elite Rangers who brave the dangers Beyond the Wall over time since crafting materials are a bit hard to get. We can also provide enchanted weapons and armor, albeit in lesser quantities than the regular arms and armor. Also, @Azel, are we going to give them Belts of Healing? I feel like that'd be pretty vital for Rangers and the like. And they're cheap to boot, only 75 IM. What else do we want to hand out? Cold Resistance items would probably be good.
    4. Magical healing while we're here now, and when we drop supplies off at the Wall. We can remove diseases and addictions, etc, basically anything short of amputations.
    5. We can--provided they have received the stamp of approval from the leadership of the Night's Watch in trustworthiness and dependability--take Black Brothers down to Sorcerer's Deep to train as mages. You need magic to fight magic, and right now the Night's Watch has none.
     
    @Duesal remember the nifty idea of gifting them a statue that bestows resist cold, should be a life and money saver for the watcher literally atop the wall, as they dont have to bring as much firewood up the elevator.

    DP said the magic academy offer is overeager for now though, best wait until our second shipment of arms.
     
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    -[X] Plan Sourced from the Soverign
    -[X] Gold
    --[X] 5,000 IM
    -[X] Arms
    --[X] Pledge Masterwork Steel Plate for every Knight currently capable of using it, else quality breastplates/chain for those not. Preferred weapons as requested (E.G swords, spears/polearms, axes or maces/hammers, all of high quality). Get definite numbers needed for everything in terms of their logistics as of now, since we can discuss their changing needs at a later date.
    -[X] Magic items
    --[X] Ranger party-scale selection of essential items, give mention of their capabilities (healing belt, PFE, etc.) Make no definite promises beyond that some will be marked down for the Watch at our earliest opportunity. Also suggest the Endure Elements dragon statue, an idea for a princely gift that has been growing on us.
    -[X] Train Mages
    --[X] Finally, offer to, with their selection of clever or learned men, teach mages for the Watch in our Scholarium. Give an estimate of how long it might take given our previous 'graduating' class of first level casters.

    I wanted to suggest the lyre, too, but we can try to make them feel indebted to us first, then slowly ease the top-level people into accepting Xor as he is. Then they can smack their people over the head and let them know not to bother the floating ball with eyestalks while he helps them rebuild their castles basically single-handedly.
     
    Crake said:
    -[X] Train Mages
    --[X] Finally, offer to, with their selection of clever or learned men, teach mages for the Watch in our Scholarium. Give an estimate of how long it might take given our previous 'graduating' class of first level casters.
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    Dude, leave this out. We can offer that seeming impossibility when we deliver their first shipment of weapons and gear. Right now it's just too much.
     
    bigbow said:
    @Duesal remember the nifty idea of gifting them a statue that bestows resist cold, should be a life and money saver for the watcher literally atop the wall, as they dont have to bring as much firewood up the elevator.

    DP said the magic academy offer is overeager for now though, best wait until our second shipment of arms.
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    :( But the faster we train them the stronger they'll be for the Long Night. Anyway, thinking on it more and more, I think we should go for 5000 IM. The faster the Night's Watch uses all of that gold the better off the Wall will be and the more recruits they'll have. And 5000 IM will not hurt our funds badly. @Azel if you have objections to that, now's the time to speak against it.

    [X] Aid for the Watch
    -[X] 2500 IM right now
    --[X] Make it clear that you will be providing weapons and armor in your next visit, so the gold is best spent elsewhere.
    --[X] Also make it clear that you will be helping restore the castles of the Night's Watch for free when time allows (when you're sure they won't react too poorly to Xor).
    --[X] Room to negotiate for more monetary aid in the future if the Night's Watch has need of it.
    -[X] Next month:
    --[X] 300 suits of armor as ordered (anything from a chainmail to fullplate, make it clear that there is no limitation, they can get whatever they ask for in the highest quality)
    --[X] 300 weapons as ordered
    --[X] 2000 obsidian daggers
    --[X] 50,000 obsidian arrowheads
    -[X] The month after:
    --[X] 400 suits of armor as ordered (anything from a chainmail to fullplate)
    --[X] 400 weapons as ordered
    --[X] Obsidian prefab parts for castles
    --[X] Obsidian spikes for fortifications
    --[X] 1 statue of Resist Cold for Castle Black
    -[X] Magic items
    --[X] Amulets of PfE over time for their most elite Rangers who brave the dangers Beyond the Wall. This would be one of our rarer gifts given the sheer cost and effort it takes to make them.
    --[X] Healing belts, which could stave off live-threatening injuries. These are a bit cheaper for us to make, but only a bit, and they still need time to be crafted.
    -[X] Magical healing while we're here now, and when we drop supplies off at the Wall. We can remove diseases and addictions, etc, basically anything short of amputations.
    -[X] Food and other supplies that they request will come with the first supply drop, but they need to give us a comprehensive list of everything they want.
    -[X] Ask permission to on occasion send your own mages or others loyal to you Beyond the Wall, either to hunt magic items or slay monsters or any other business you might have.
    -[X] Promise to send mages and others as recruits to the Night's Watch whenever you can.
     
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    Proposal
    2500 IM right now

    Next month:
    300 suits of plate
    300 weapons as ordered
    2000 obsidian daggers
    50,000 obsidian arrowheads
    2500 IM
    50 Healing Belt

    The month after:
    400 suits of plate
    400 weapons as ordered
    Obsidian prefab parts for castles
    Obsidian spikes for fortifications
    2500 IM
    1 statue of Resist Cold for Castle Black

    Then we negotiate further
     
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