Remove ads

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

Reader mode
DragonParadox said:
A Troublesome Offer ​

Fourth Day of the First Month 293 AC

It is not without a twinge of hesitation that you translate the djinn's words into Common for Waymar to understand... yet it is only that. The young Royce has come a long way indeed from the uncertain boy you met in Braavos years ago. For his part he seems surprised and appreciative in equal measure.

He bows to the Lady of the Winds as one would to a noblewoman of high rank, and once Dany had gifted him with the power to know and speak the tongues of mortals and immortals both he declares, "I had the honor to end the creature's foul existence and am all the more pleased for it to know that I undid the black sorceries that bound you, my lady."

"And who are y..." the djinn breaks off, blushing even deeper than before. "Forgive me, all who have guarded me unknowingly, for failing to introduce myself," she says. "I am Embra of House Rebys, Daughter born in Silver Confluence to Hajar Vizier of the Whispering Shades and Pact-Brother to Zafer, Steward of the Winds and Overlord of Armun Kelisk."

The words mean little to you save for the last two which wake an ancient memory... Armun Kelisk, Skyhold of the Djinn and crown of their empire. Before you stands the daughter of the... foster bother and from his title perhaps spymaster of the lord of all Djinn. All at once vistas of great rewards open before even as pits of perils undreamt yawn before your feet.

"And I am Waymar of House Royce, my lady, an ancient and honorable line, though," he gives a slightly awkward smile. "Less of the former, perhaps, by the measure of undying spirits."

The girl, for her mannerisms certainly show her youth, seems pleased by the introduction. She lapses into thoughtful silence for a moment, beginning to float gently off the ground like a leaf upon a summer breeze. Finally she then nods firmly to herself. "And what is your desire, Waymar of House Royce? Be not hesitant to dream grandly for the power of my kindred is grand and this wish I offer freely for returning me from the brink of black oblivion."

A shocked silence descends upon the hall then, the implications of her offer sending a chill down your spine.

"My lady, your father..." Alyneah begins, speaking quickly as though to stop one from rash action.

"My father is not here, Spear of the Opal Throne," the girl interrupts her. "Father was also not dying... confined to cold stone in the hope that a curse-breaker of your folk could unravel the Nameless One's power over me." She shudders delicately at the memory. "That was me, and yet here I fly." So saying the young Djinn loops about the cavern as a demonstration, or perhaps simply because she can. "My foe is dead by this mortal's hand, or do you deny it?"

"No." The single syllable is spoken grudgingly. It is clear as day she would very much wish to offer some qualification or tempering, but she can think of none.

"And so what greater service could a mortal do me that they be worthy of being granted their heart's desire?" she asks defiantly. "Is my life to have no worth beyond what others place upon it?"

Through this all Waymar had been looking on in bemusement, nary a trace of greed for his reward. You suspect the very notion of being granted so grand of reward as a wish had never even crossed his mind. On the other hand he would never be so discourteous as to deny a lady's gift... even if as you suspect it would undo some deal of the genie-kin long in the making.

What do you do?

[] Speak up
-[] Write in

[] Let the scene play out

[] Write in

OOC: Viserys' knowledge roll came out terrible, but it was at least enough to recognize the name of the city and from there infer the rest.[
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...

Waymar, you Wish stealing motherfucker!
 
And this is why we should have taken Elia's bones when we had the chance.
Dammit.

Edit: I'm sure Waymar would be willing to raise Tyene's aunt if she speaks up.
 
The diplomatic thing would be: "My lady, my heartfelt wish would be for you and yours to prosper."

Now, to quote myself:
MTB said:
Djinni. And Viserys is going to loot her, derailing the diplomatic talks between Air and Earth.
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...
Okay, it wasn't Viserys this time.
 
Last edited:
Ooookay, so basically if Waymar takes the wish then the alliance-in-the-making between the Shaitan and the Djinn falls apart.

We really do need to speak up to take control of the situation. If we don't we lose all the goodwill we've been building up.
 
[X] Let the scene play out, but quietly message Tyene if she wants to say something

I hope she can get us a Scroll of Rezzing once we reach the Opal Vault.
 
Speaking of not having enough knowledge, I'm really not sure what to do here. Is a scroll of Resurrection attainable via wish?

Letting Waymar have the wish ruins the diplomatic efforts of the Shaitan, and likely a lot of our goodwill from helping them. In exchange we get more personal gratitude from this "young" lady, and likely get more from from her family, but maybe less from the head Djinn.

Refusing the wish is probably a fairly big faux pas.
 
Azel said:
After reading this update multiple times, I have still no idea what Viserys is refering to here.
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...
Basically, a potential alliance between the Shaitan and the Djinn hinged on the Shaitan being able to break the curse placed on the Djinn princess.

The Shaitan were happy to recruit aid in getting her to the Opaline Vault precisely because she would get them help in the war against the Efreeti.

But now, we're in the awkward position of having rendered the Shaitan's curse-breakers moot and made all of their efforts fruitless.
DragonParadox said:
It might not fall apart, but the Shaitan would certainly be in a worse position if it ever came to be.
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...
Yeah, and this. @Azel, any ideas on how to quickly salvage this?
 
As much as I want to throat punch Waymar for Waymaring again, I don't think it would be appropriate for us to interrupt now. Let's see what he does.

[X] Let the scene play out
 
DragonParadox said:
"And I am Waymar of House Royce, my lady, an ancient and honorable line, though," he gives a slightly awkward smile. "Less of the former, perhaps, by the measure of undying spirits."
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...
Punctuation error? It comes out to:
"And I am Waymar of House Royce, my lady, an ancient and honorable line, though. Less of the former, perhaps, by the measure of undying spirits."
 
After this little stunt we are higher up on the Efreeti shitlist.
A nice wish would be something along the lines of "mutually agree on not allowing atrocities like these to occur again and to punish those who benefit from them" - better phrased, of course.
 
So mister CR13 Evil Djinn could curse the lady in a way a high-ranking Djinn in Armun Kelisk with the local ressources couldn't break?
Maybe going there would have been a waste of our time anyway, glad we are offered an alternative here.
 
Azel said:
After reading this update multiple times, I have still no idea what Viserys is refering to here.
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...

If the Opal Throne broke the curse on Hajar's request then that would be a favor owed between the two polities, a bridge to build on. Instead you have a bunch of mortal merchants fixing the problem and getting a wish for their trouble. Also...

*rolls wisdom*

Viserys suspects that having granted a wish to a mortal is seen as somewhat socially debasing to the highborn genie that offered it.
 
Azel said:
But what has that to do with the Wish? The curse is broken anyway.
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...

She's officially giving credit to Waymar, rather than the Shaitan as a polity. We can speak up to change this (likely via arguing that we were acting on the Shaitan's behalf), but it loses us the wish, since the wish is basically her reward for the curse breaking.
 
Something to consider; the Shaitan are intrinsically Lawful Neutral, which doesn't prevent them from doing bad things.

The Sultana of the Peerless Empire HATES the Efreet, especially their Sultan. She knows she needs to win the cold war that's been brewing for centuries between the two realms. To help accomplish that, she has already fostered strong diplomatic ties with the powers of the Elemental Plane of Water.

Now, what better way to bring the Djinn to your banner than by saving the beloved daughter the the ruling Djinn's close friend/foster brother/whatever he is?

A LN being could easily make the decision to arrange an incident which would leave the Djinn in their debt. No Evil required.
 
DragonParadox said:
If the Opal Throne broke the curse on Hajar's request then that would be a favor owed between the two polities, a bridge to build on. Instead you have a bunch of mortal merchants fixing the problem and getting a wish for their trouble. Also...

*rolls wisdom*

Viserys suspects that having granted a wish to a mortal is seen as somewhat socially debasing to the highborn genie that offered it.
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...
I can't believe I'm saying this, but Waymar's crit has quickly turned into the most inconvenient thing in this entire mini-quest. More inconvenient than unknowingly declaring war on the Brazen Throne.
 
Reader mode
You must login or register to reply here.
Remove ads
Back
Top