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

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Part XLVI: Book Hunting
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    • Book Hunting​

    Fifteenth Day of the Tenth Month 289 AC

    While you pockets are a good bit lighter than they were last week you still think it is a good idea to get some books on Essosi customs, politics and noble lines, or at least those aspects of existence in the Free Cities, Lya was quick to correct you, Essos being a continent that stretches all the way to Yi Ti.

    The first problem with this outing became evident when you thought to find a bookshop. You had not considered how much work, skilled work by a literate person at that goes into transcribing books. There are no places even in the grand marketplaces of Braavos that sell solely books. The highborn have their own collections and might have this tome or that copied as gifts or to trade but few truly precious tomes reach the shopkeeper's counter.

    Such places that have books sell them together with all manner of trinkets, curiosities and other conversation starters.

    Lya is quite disheartened at just how badly written some of the books you find are. Filled with centuries old propaganda and bias plus enough copying errors to drive a reputable scholar to drink.

    "If nothing else," she declares "I will find or make a spell to properly copy text and that one I will teach to whoever asks."

    You do however manage to find a copy of Fires of the Freehold with a few pages of Volentine genealogies clumsily tacked on at the end. You can only hope whoever wrote it was at least half-way reliable.

    Late in the day you happen upon a copy of a Lorathi traveler's guide to Pentos that is still legible and no more than twenty years out of date. Lya says that it is probably not so biased and full of hearsay as to be useless, faint praise but better than she has been giving most of your finds. In the same shop you find the memories of a Tiroshi admiral that could be mined for information.

    Finally your last and perhaps best find of the day is a satirical text on the theocracies of Qohor and Novos written by a Braavosi traveler. Lya actually bursts into laughter while leafing through it. Sadly the book is by far the most expensive

    Which books did you buy

    [] Fires of the Freehold (8 Silver Moons)
    [] Lorathi written Guide to Pentos (1 iron Mark)
    [] Trroshi Admiral's book of memoirs (4 Silver Moons)
    [] The Bearded Goat (5 Gold Dragons)

    Dany however finds the excursions into musty antique stores vastly entertaining, always turnig this way and that to look at some oddity, from monkey paws and lizard lion skulls to bronze astrolabes and strange instruments. Of course that led to a desire to buy some of these oddities.

    What did you buy for her:

    [] An Ilustrated Pentoshi deck of cards (1 Half-Mark)
    [] A needle thin Lysene courtesan's dagger, designed to be hidden in a wide variety of outfits (2 Half marks)
    [] A insect collection containing many bright and colored bugs supposedly from all over the world (1 Silver Moon)

    OOC: You guys rolled ranging from terrible to mediocre for finding anything. The only thing you crit on was how much fun Dany had.
     
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  • Threadmarks
    • [X] Fires of the Freehold (8 Silver Moons)
    [X] Lorathi written Guide to Pentos (1 iron Mark)
    [X] Trroshi Admiral's book of memoirs (4 Silver Moons)
    [X] An Ilustrated Pentoshi deck of cards (1 Half-Mark)
    [X] A needle thin Lysene courtesan's dagger, designed to be hidden in a wide variety of outfits (2 Half marks)
     
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    [X] Plan Unelemental
    -[] Fires of the Freehold (8 Silver Moons)
    -[] Lorathi written Guide to Pentos (1 iron Mark)
    -[] Trroshi Admiral's book of memoirs (4 Silver Moons)
    -[] An Ilustrated Pentoshi deck of cards (1 Half-Mark)
    -[] A needle thin Lysene courtesan's dagger, designed to be hidden in a wide variety of outfits (2 Half marks)

    Not wasting 5 Gold Dragons on the book, however funny it is. Not until our income is much greater, at least.
    Inb4 Dany the card shark makes a comeback!
     
    [X] Plan save our sister from stupidity


    -[] Lorathi written Guide to Pentos (1 iron Mark)
    -[] Trroshi Admiral's book of memoirs (4 Silver Moons)

    The two that are half decent.

    -[] A needle thin Lysene courtesan's dagger, designed to be hidden in a wide variety of outfits (2 Half marks)

    She is going to name it Stabby and together they shall be very happy. And covered in the blood of her enemies, too.

    -[] A insect collection containing many bright and colored bugs supposedly from all over the world (1 Silver Moon)

    Let's not have a retarded little sister, please ? Beside, it cost almost nothing.
     
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    Unelemental said:
    [X] Plan Unelemental
    -[] Fires of the Freehold (8 Silver Moons)
    -[] Lorathi written Guide to Pentos (1 iron Mark)
    -[] Trroshi Admiral's book of memoirs (4 Silver Moons)
    -[] An Ilustrated Pentoshi deck of cards (1 Half-Mark)
    -[] A needle thin Lysene courtesan's dagger, designed to be hidden in a wide variety of outfits (2 Half marks)

    Not wasting 5 Gold Dragons on the book, however funny it is. Not until our income is much greater, at least.
    Inb4 Dany the card shark makes a comeback!
    Click to expand...
    Click to shrink...

    [] A insect collection containing many bright and colored bugs supposedly from all over the world (1 Silver Moon)
    Would you consider adding the insects to your plan?
     
    DragonParadox said:
    OOC: Yes I know a Fire Grue is only supposed to give Flaming Sphere or Haste but that does not make sense with the fluff. A Harginn is made when evil magic taints the Elemental Plane of Fire so logically the spell at its core should be the one that created it. I rolled on a table of 1 to 3 level Evil spells that might be useful on the Elemental Plane of fire and you got Evil Eye on a good roll. Before anyone asks the ways I will be handling spells with the Evil descriptor is thus: Every time a non-evil caster uses one s/he moves 1 point towards Evil.
    Click to expand...
    Click to shrink...
    well then, translate it just for the researching experience, but never use it
     
    [X] Plan All except The Bearded Goat
    -[] Fires of the Freehold (8 Silver Moons)
    -[] Lorathi written Guide to Pentos (1 iron Mark)
    -[] Trroshi Admiral's book of memoirs (4 Silver Moons)
    -[] An Ilustrated Pentoshi deck of cards (1 Half-Mark)
    -[] A needle thin Lysene courtesan's dagger, designed to be hidden in a wide variety of outfits (2 Half marks)
    -[] A insect collection containing many bright and colored bugs supposedly from all over the world (1 Silver Moon)

    It's elementals plan but with the addition of purchasing the insects. They're relatively cheap, an enjoyable experience and learning tool, and can widen a persons horizons given a large variety.
     
    Part XLVI: A Day Out
  • Threadmarks
    • A Day Out​

    Seventeenth Day of the Tenth Month 289 AC

    As you prepare to meet Mellore Selyse and Alinor for a friendly chat you are struck by how surreal and bizarre you would have considered the experience as little as a month ago. Not only are you going out to meet three lades of the night for a friendly chat you are taking your younger sister along, All things told they could be considered more honest than you these days. At least they actually provide services for their revenue, you just take them by strength, by guile and especially by magic.

    It helps of course that they could almost be considered courtesans, a respected position in Braavos. Your morals have grown less and less Westerosi. You suspect that should you ever take the throne some of your attitudes would shock all your subjects save the Dronish.

    The five of you take a Serpent Boat to the Isle of the Gods. There in the Gardens of Gelenei are one of the few patches of greenery in Bravos that is not part of some noble's estate. In theory all are welcome into the gardens of the Lord of Harmony. In practice that is all who are neatly attired and look relatively prosperous. You easily pass the test, not even an eyebrow raised at the girls' manner of dress.

    Dany has fun walking in the grass and looking for bugs and worms while you catch up with your friends. Alinor is actually trying her hand at composing poetry. To your admittedly inexperienced ear her verse sounds lovely.

    You also tell them something of the goings on at Wind House. You are amused to discover that Tevos used to cut quite a dashing figure in his youth and patronized courtesans as late as last month. They also fill you in on some of the more hidden workings of the guild. It seems the Old Man is using the windfall form the Averys affair to try and push out some of the competition. This is supposed to be a secret but Yohn is far more talkative in bed than out of it.

    Dany returns just as Selyse is outlining the exact plans of attack for you. Your sister is finally tired out and feeling chatty, placing you in a rather delicate position when she asks Alinor what she does. Fortunately she is quicker on the uptake then you and smoothy replies that she provides pleasant company to those who pay for it. Dany is satisfied with the reply and begins peppering the girls with questions about the various temples on the island and the gods they serve.

    She finds tales of the Faceless Men fascinating and visibly catches herself before comparing their supposed abilities to your magic more than once. She does express a desire to see the Sept Beyond the Sea which you promise to do some other day. While you would not call your friends dressed in poor taste, they are visibly courtesans and the Faith tends to be considerably more disapproving of that that the priests of the Lord of Harmony.

    It says something about how distant you have grown from the faith you were born into that the only thing you feel is a vague sort of frustration at their intransigence. The opposite of love is not hate but indifference. The snippet of wisdom from some long dead Maester comes to you from your childhood. It is a good thing you are honing your acing skills, for any eventual coronation.

    Dany's card game sees quite a bit of use and you raise and eyebrow at her competence. It seems she did spend more than a little time around Relor when you were not around. He apparently used her as a prop to prove that whatever game he was playing is "so easy even a little girl can win." You shake your head at the gullibility of people. Dany keeps trying to cheat and to your surprise even does so successfully once or twice, always showing you he trick once the game is done. You decide to make it a rouge's game where everyone tries to cheat or otherwise trick the others, to the general entertainment of all.

    Plan for Week Six:

    Major actions. Choose one:

    [] Meditate on the tumultuous visions that marked your awakening to power (3d100 XP, Possibility to exchange feats)
    [] Gorthos has received word of a supposed spirit caller that is surprisingly effective at parting noble fools from their gold. He would like you to offer this maegi the protection of the Old Man and the guild.
    [] Yohn would like to to somehow get an unusually honest watchman under the guild's sway.
    [] You have come to realize that your powers are a swindler's dream. You could use them to get a significant amount of coin fast and weaken competing criminal organizations at the same time by borrowing as much money as you can from the moneylenders of rival gangs under assumed forms and names.
    [] Learn more about how and where Gorthos' Thieves' guild operates
    [] Deliver the Chalice to the Red priests. As useful as it is it is not worth the risk. The Faith of the Red God is strong and will surely reward you well. You might even receive some new insight into magic if you are willing to reveal your power.
    [] Set up the household more effectively. Right now the control of the finances is directly yours and no one is really doing the books.
    [] Write in

    Minor actions. Choose three:

    [] You have a power that allows you to see magic. Look around the bazaars for any trinket with actual power in it and then acquire it (???)
    [] Get to know the regulars of the Windward society
    [] Set up your alchemy supplies and obtain some common poisons (includes milking familiar)
    [] Meet with one or more of your new friends outside of "work." It is nice having people you can just talk to and they have already given you valuable information besides. (Write-in which)
    [] You are feeling a bit homesick. Listen for rumors of the Sunset Kingdoms in Braavos so that you can at east have some news of home.
    [] Place charm on the higher ups in the guild to get as much good will as possible by conditioning them to consider you a friend (write-in target)
    [] Clear up the attic for a future magic work-space. You may even find something interesting.
    [] Visit the Maegi Mellore mentioned. It would be interesting to see if she truly has power
    [] Write in

    OOC: I'm thinking of moving to monthly turns at the end of this month to allow more time to pass for things to happen elsewhere. What do you guys think?
     
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