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

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Duesal said:
I doubt it's something that DP's going to screw us over on. We can just assume that there's roughly the same amount of knowledge per abstract book and leave it at that.
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I do actually want Breeding Habits of the Essosi Hawkmouse though, "only books of import" makes for a very boring library and not as much opportunity for inspiration, cross experimentation etc. E.g. Biomimicry
 
Deliste said:
I do actually want Breeding Habits of the Essosi Hawkmouse though, "only books of import" makes for a very boring library and not as much opportunity for inspiration, cross experimentation etc. E.g. Biomimicry
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It's not just books of import. We're already getting the Sealord's entire library, and then we're negotiating further with the Silver Eye to get whatever books they have that the Sealord doesn't. Generally we've been pretty greedy and thorough in getting all the books we can get our hands on. We got the entire Martell Library, we're close to getting the entire Castle Black Library, we got the entire Royce Library, we're getting the entire Mantarys Library, we're getting the entire Tolos Library, we're getting Wyla's entire library, etc.
 
TotallyNotEvil said:
I wonder, is it just me here that's on college?
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I want to say "me too", but...
My Uni was shut down for months due to a student strike and a bunch of other protests and squats that took over the building, and now that the govt has forced everyone out the new security forces in charge of the buildings won't let anyone in.
Including people like me who were verifiably (with official paperwork to prove it!) not involved in a single moment of those months of strikes (I was on a different campus in a different city, in a course the entire country knows keeps is too busy to gallivant around the country and join protests in central Paris).

And more importantly, they aren't letting any of the staff and administrative people enter the building either.
So my paperwork in not getting signed or read. So I can't officially complete my course and move on to the next one, the admissions processed processes are stalled... I can't even access any of the paperwork needed to apply elsewhere properly!

I have a full-time job now, and so may keep it for a year instead of just until mid-September.
 
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@Duesal, actually, the only part where "we're getting" is still appropriate is Wyla's library.
Her, books we found at Dragonstone and Rina's and Rohar's transcribed lore are yet to be added to our library, though technically we have those already.

Well, also Castle Black is not done yet (I think?), but it will be the next time we visit, almost everything there is in order now.

So...
That "book for book" refers specifically to Silver Eye and lore they have but Sealord/archives don't, then?
 
egoo said:
So...
That "book for book" refers specifically to Silver Eye and lore they have but Sealord/archives don't, then?
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Yes. We've already bargained for the entirety of the Sealord's archives, we don't need to give him anything for that. With the Silver Eye, however, if they have any lore that wasn't in the Sealord's library then we'll trade fairly for it.
 
Pretty sure we finished Castle Black's lore, and we also scavenged odds and ends from the Night Fort.

As much as Aemon and Jeor wanted to start angling towards independence from us (which is good, since giving them the resources to organize their defenses for a start, but then gradually having them handle the upkeep is the goal).

Ned should really start asking Robert to direct any excess population up the King's Road so he can settle them on the Gift. I mean, not that I mind the Lannister-Baratheons stupidly handing us free manpower to indoctrinate into loving us and our regime, but we'll eventually have to work on plans to make the Watch self-sustaining, and also start up settlements in the North so that its vast resources can be properly exploited.
 
@Duesal what about the healing magic knowledge she wants for the Silver Eye? Should we also ask what magic she wants from the Heart Tree?

Maybe something like healing, protection, and anti teleportation for the Wind House?

[X] Duesal
 
Crake said:
Pretty sure we finished Castle Black's lore, and we also scavenged odds and ends from the Night Fort.

As much as Aemon and Jeor wanted to start angling towards independence from us (which is good, since giving them the resources to organize their defenses for a start, but then gradually having them handle the upkeep is the goal).

Ned should really start asking Robert to direct any excess population up the King's Road so he can settle them on the Gift. I mean, not that I mind the Lannister-Baratheons stupidly handing us free manpower to indoctrinate into loving us and our regime, but we'll eventually have to work on plans to make the Watch self-sustaining, and also start up settlements in the North so that its vast resources can be properly exploited.
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I've honestly expected something happening in that regard by now. Leaving us free reign to, let's be realistic here, bribe the Night's Watch openly and cashing in goodwill in the North by doing so is... kinda retarded? It's not like we made any attempt to hide our activities at the Wall. Shouldn't they do something to not look as if the south is unable to give a single fuck about the North?
 
Azel said:
I've honestly expected something happening in that regard by now. Leaving us free reign to, let's be realistic here, bribe the Night's Watch openly and cashing in goodwill in the North by doing so is... kinda retarded? It's not like we made any attempt to hide our activities at the Wall. Shouldn't they do something to not look as if the south is unable to give a single fuck about the North?
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In its current state and attitude the south is unable and unwilling to give a fuck about the North.
 
Kind of short sighted considering the changing tides. But the Lannisters and Baratheons make "short-sightedness" their national anthem, so no real surprises.
 
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The thing to keep in mind is that the Wall only matters if the threat beyond it is real.*

The Wall liking us doesn't matter because their oath forbids interference in the south.

The North and Ned will never betray Robert so you don't have to worry about them.

Sure they could make the Wall like them, but why?

*And if you believe in the threat it's not a competition with Viserys' Targaryen, it's survival and you appreciate his help even if only begrudgingly.
 
Inserted tally
@DragonParadox, consensus achieved.
Adhoc vote count started by egoo on Jul 4, 2018 at 3:29 AM, finished with 202735 posts and 11 votes.
  • [X] Add to the deal
    -[X] Henceforth, we will get all items that the Silver Eye deems too cursed to use (including the ones that are so cursed they warrant fey disposal, refer to the successful disposal of the Mantis Head Divine Artifact as a point in your favor), and in return whichever items that we don't sacrifice and manage to decurse will be returned to the Silver Eye after they've been thoroughly studied by us. Haggling about buying the things from them afterwards will likely occur.
    --[X] As a start you would like to see which items they have in stock.
    -[X] Continuing on the same vein of the subject of the Silver Eye and Inquisition working closely together in the future, propose that from time to time some of your fledgeling mages from the Scholarum could station with the Silver Eye for a bit to gain experience. They would be working under a competent superior whom you trust, and Alysande would get access to various mages however temporary those arrangements might be.
    -[X] Next month we can set aside some of our crafters' time to craft her a Quill of Scribing (with the understanding that the Sealord pays for it), which will greatly increase her versatility in combat given the Sealord's backing makes the costs of scribing scrolls every day obsolete. In exchange we will reserve the right to commission scrolls from her to distribute among our mages.
    --[X] Starting with Dimension Door, we can have Lya scribe a few scrolls of very useful spells for Alysande to quickly learn (again, with the Sealord paying for it). This has an upper limit of three spells for the next month, and we're going to need to know which spells she chooses.
    ---[X] In future months she can commission more spells depending on our circumstances and how free we are with scribing time.
    -[X] We will sell the Arcane Resonance Ritual to them in exchange for the fey rituals they have acquired, on the understanding that they not spread the ritual to anyone else. This will allow them to quickly and efficiently identify magic items on their own without having to rely on the fey's whimsy.
    -[X] Broach the possibilities of her occasionally coming to speak as a guest lecturer in the Scholarum, much in the same vein as your offer to Wyla Drekelis. See what she might require for such an arrangement to be possible.
    -[X] Ask if there is any lore the Silver Eye possesses that is not in the Sealord's Archives, and if so arrange an equal trade of knowledge.
    --[X] See if there's any forbidden lore that the Silver Eye has confiscated and see if you can get that, for a fair price of course.
    -[X] Ask for details of the Silver Eye
    --[X] Ask how many members there are, what classes/levels they have, what groups they're organized into within the Silver Eye (basically the same as the list of mages we were given for Dorne).
    ---[X] Ask if there are any members of particular note (like promising apprentices or grizzled veterans who have decided to join).
    --[X] Ask what improvements have been made to the Wind House in your absence (mundane and magical).
    --[X] Ask about Alysande herself, what magic items she's collected, supernatural allies, which companions she prefers in battle, etc. This is out of curiosity as well as a desire to see where you could help.
    -[X] Ask about the supernaturals now within and around Braavos and anything you'd be interested in knowing.
    --[X] Ask about which priests they have been getting healing from and what other miracle workers or mages have popped up recently. Also ask about the various attacks Braavos has suffered since our absence.
    -[X] Ask about any rumors that Alysande has heard of happenings in Westeros or Essos, or even the Summer Seas and Sothoryos.
    -[X] Ask about how Alysande's grandmother and Uthero have been doing.
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DragonParadox said:
where you send gallows bait and enemies without the guts to die in battle.
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You know, sometimes one is disheartened by how backwards a culture/polity can be at times. And then one remembers that there was a prevailing belief that shit like that was considered fine in the real world, and that, at least in my home country, such belifs are looked upon with the disdain they deserve.

The world* is actually less shitty than it, was in my area at least, 100 years ago. Yay! progress :D.

Also, again planetos is a shithole, with an surprising lack of peasant backed... well, not uprisings ('cuz armour people vs. peasants), but assassinations of people like Cersci.

Damn, i need sleep. 'dnight (well, morning)
 
BeepSmile said:
You know, sometimes one is disheartened by how backwards a culture/polity can be at times. And then one remembers that there was a prevailing belief that shit like that was considered fine in the real world, and that, at least in my home country, such belifs are looked upon with the disdain they deserve.

The world* is actually less shitty than it, was in my area at least, 100 years ago. Yay! progress :D.

Also, again planetos is a shithole, with an surprising lack of peasant backed... well, not uprisings ('cuz armour people vs. peasants), but assassinations of people like Cersci.

Damn, i need sleep. 'dnight (well, morning)
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Sorry to poke at your "Great and Enlightened Modern World"-bubble, but we are not that much better these days and disdain for cultural practices or a polities actions without trying to understand the reasoning behind it is most certainly one of the less endearing habits of humanity.

It also leads to some of our greatest fuck-ups as a species.
 
Vote closed.
Adhoc vote count started by DragonParadox on Jul 4, 2018 at 4:49 AM, finished with 202739 posts and 11 votes.
  • [X] Add to the deal
    -[X] Henceforth, we will get all items that the Silver Eye deems too cursed to use (including the ones that are so cursed they warrant fey disposal, refer to the successful disposal of the Mantis Head Divine Artifact as a point in your favor), and in return whichever items that we don't sacrifice and manage to decurse will be returned to the Silver Eye after they've been thoroughly studied by us. Haggling about buying the things from them afterwards will likely occur.
    --[X] As a start you would like to see which items they have in stock.
    -[X] Continuing on the same vein of the subject of the Silver Eye and Inquisition working closely together in the future, propose that from time to time some of your fledgeling mages from the Scholarum could station with the Silver Eye for a bit to gain experience. They would be working under a competent superior whom you trust, and Alysande would get access to various mages however temporary those arrangements might be.
    -[X] Next month we can set aside some of our crafters' time to craft her a Quill of Scribing (with the understanding that the Sealord pays for it), which will greatly increase her versatility in combat given the Sealord's backing makes the costs of scribing scrolls every day obsolete. In exchange we will reserve the right to commission scrolls from her to distribute among our mages.
    --[X] Starting with Dimension Door, we can have Lya scribe a few scrolls of very useful spells for Alysande to quickly learn (again, with the Sealord paying for it). This has an upper limit of three spells for the next month, and we're going to need to know which spells she chooses.
    ---[X] In future months she can commission more spells depending on our circumstances and how free we are with scribing time.
    -[X] We will sell the Arcane Resonance Ritual to them in exchange for the fey rituals they have acquired, on the understanding that they not spread the ritual to anyone else. This will allow them to quickly and efficiently identify magic items on their own without having to rely on the fey's whimsy.
    -[X] Broach the possibilities of her occasionally coming to speak as a guest lecturer in the Scholarum, much in the same vein as your offer to Wyla Drekelis. See what she might require for such an arrangement to be possible.
    -[X] Ask if there is any lore the Silver Eye possesses that is not in the Sealord's Archives, and if so arrange an equal trade of knowledge.
    --[X] See if there's any forbidden lore that the Silver Eye has confiscated and see if you can get that, for a fair price of course.
    -[X] Ask for details of the Silver Eye
    --[X] Ask how many members there are, what classes/levels they have, what groups they're organized into within the Silver Eye (basically the same as the list of mages we were given for Dorne).
    ---[X] Ask if there are any members of particular note (like promising apprentices or grizzled veterans who have decided to join).
    --[X] Ask what improvements have been made to the Wind House in your absence (mundane and magical).
    --[X] Ask about Alysande herself, what magic items she's collected, supernatural allies, which companions she prefers in battle, etc. This is out of curiosity as well as a desire to see where you could help.
    -[X] Ask about the supernaturals now within and around Braavos and anything you'd be interested in knowing.
    --[X] Ask about which priests they have been getting healing from and what other miracle workers or mages have popped up recently. Also ask about the various attacks Braavos has suffered since our absence.
    -[X] Ask about any rumors that Alysande has heard of happenings in Westeros or Essos, or even the Summer Seas and Sothoryos.
    -[X] Ask about how Alysande's grandmother and Uthero have been doing.
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*unsure if offer is any good*
*very, very carefully shocks Duesal so as not to hurt his little magpie heart any further*
 
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Part MMCXXX: Endless Reflection
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    • Endless Reflection ​

    Seventeenth Day of the Third Month 293 AC

    What begins as a simple offer to exchange lore for lore quickly spirals into a deeper and more far-reaching agreements. For one the realization that they have been paying the Orphne to dispose of cursed objects when in all likelihood the fey had some manner to make use of the things sits ill with you. Thus you undercut the competition by offering the best of all prices for disposal of dangerous arcane paraphernalia, free. Moreover you pledge to return any items that can be purified rather than offered up as sacrifice, with the understanding that you might wish to trade for them if something in particular catches your eye.

    Throughout the conversation Alysande's eyes grow ever wider at the generosity, though she manages to keep her composure until Lya offers to teach the ritual of arcane resonance in exchange for any fey rituals the Silver Eye might have acquired. Thus the Braavosi mages need no longer parse out enchantments by slow and perilous trial and error or else the whims of the fey. "Whose soul did you sell to get that?" she asks, and though the words are spoken in jest there is an kernel of true concern beneath it.

    "We paid in more traditional fare," you assure her. "Coins in fact, if not ones forged of any earthly metal." You cannot deny that there is a small part of you that almost mischievously enjoys playing the part of the sorcerer speaking in riddles.

    The Braavosi mage is not one to be be confounded for more than a few moments. "You found your way onto another sphere, bodily, and with trade goods of some sort..."

    You nod, but hasten to offer a warning also of the many perils subtle as much as overt that await a traveler upon the twisting paths that lead beyond the boundaries of the world. Thankfully here too she proves attentive, all too aware of the horrors that might seize the chance to slip back following an incautious traveler.

    Talk of needing to grow wiser and more skilled in the ways of magic naturally moves to how one might help Scholarum apprentices into achieving that. You propose that some of the more combative and adventurous among them could work with Alysande, gaining valuable understanding about the application of magic in battle and investigation.

    "I would not refuse more help, given how many calls there are on our time...." she begins, obviously uncertain of how to phrase her concerns.

    "But?" you prompt.

    "I'm concerned that some among your foes might target the mages once they are out of your immediate protection," Alysande explains. "It's what I would do to either weaken you and sow dissent in relations with Braavos or draw you out into battle not of your choosing."

    "We could perform divinations against it," Lya interjects, though from her expression it is clear she is considering all the ways that could be foiled by a determined opponent with magic of his own.

    "It would be far worse to let fear dictate our actions," you declare, though with a heavy heart. "We will only ask for volunteers, but I have little doubt there will be plenty to choose from."

    The matter of Alysande herself teaching at the Scholarum as a guest lecturer goes over much easier, particularly once Lya offers to create a quill for the Braavosi sorceress to scribe scrolls without taking time out of her other duties.

    "A mere exchange of lore seems a paltry thing by contrast to all that you are offering... there is, however, something I might offer to help even the scales, not a weapon nor talisman, but a tool of great power in such work as the Silver Eye and your own Inquisition partakes in." So saying the young mage rises from her seat and approaches a small mirror, hung inconspicuously besides a somewhat battered tiger skin. She taps it an complex sequence.

    The glass flares briefly with dozens of hues bleeding into each other, then it clears to reveal a familiar vista of bright-garbed bravos strutting, bragging, and laughing: the Moon Pool.

    "Dwelling within this mirror and indeed all mirrors throughout Wind House is a spirit servitor of the Wanderer's Lantern with the power to reach out and show one images reflecting on every reflective surface in the city that has been properly prepared, including the canals." She pauses dramatically upon offering this revelation and rightly so. A spymaster's dream.

    "What are the limits?" you hasten to ask.

    "It cannot be a lake or river, nothing natural, for men cannot offer up to the spirit's wandering eye that which was never theirs to begin with. Further the process of forging the connection is more complex and more costly the larger the 'object'." This time the silence that falls is almost sheepish. "Several companies which trade with Yi Ti found themselves far richer than before."

    Lya draws closer to the mirror, intrigued. "How many of these paths can be held open at once?"

    "How did you know there was a limit?" Alysande asks, startled.

    "The capacity to subdivide one's attention is one of the limitations which even the gods themselves are bound by," comes the confidently-spoken reply.

    "That's..." Alysande swallows. "The limit is nine channels. There is always one free in case I need to see something urgently."

    "So what was this offer?" you interject.

    "We of the Silver Eye have enough favor with the Moonsingers that we can asks them to call a second Watcher," she replies. "You should be wary not to use if for what it might find to be 'tyrannical ends', the Goddess' mark is clear upon them."

    A faint but persistent chime echoes through the chamber, causing Alysande to scowl faintly. "He just reminded me that all he does is to preserve a city to be proud of, one worth guarding," she sighs.

    Do you accept Alysande's offer to call forth a Watcher Spirit for the Inquisition's use?

    [] Yes, it would improve communication thousandfold

    [] No, you would not trust its loyalties

    OOC: Charactersheet and mage list next update.
     
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  • Threadmarks
    • [X] Yes, it would improve communication thousandfold.
    -[X] Rather than simply making the request of the Moonsingers on our behalf, ask Alysande to re-introduce us to them so that we might offer them a parcel of land in Sorcerer's Deep on which they can build a new temple. We are always interested in establishing positive relationships with benevolent or even neutral deities. Should the Moonsingers prove amenable, we are willing to assist in establishing their new temple, providing material support as well as magic-aided construction.
    --[X] Before they accept our offer, however, give a detailed explanation of our doctrine and laws, especially in regards to blood sacrifice of those who are unquestionably enemies of humanity, and in some cases employing those same types of beings. If such practices are unacceptable to their tenets, then we will politely withdraw our offer, including the request for assistance from a Watcher spirit, and thank them for their time.
     
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    Goldfish said:
    [X] Yes, it would improve communication thousandfold.
    -[X] Rather than simply making the request of the Moonsingers on our behalf, ask Alysande to introduce us to them so that we might offer them a parcel of land in Sorcerer's Deep on which they can build a new temple. We are always interested in establishing positive relationships with benevolent or even neutral deities. Should the Moonsingers prove amenable, we are willing to assist in establishing their new temple, providing material support as well as magic-aided construction.
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    ... didn't we have some rules in our empire with regards to religion and temples? Approval forms and so on?
     
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