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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 MMCCLXXXIII: Of Elder Gods
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    • Of Elder Gods​

    Seventh Day of the Fifth Month 293 AC

    "Are we not all more than we appear to be at first glance, Wisdom?" you ask, tilting your head towards her, for the first time allowing yourself a very human mannerism. Between one instant and the next you allow your form to shift to the one you more commonly wear. Ironically, you realize Siduri is actually half an inch or so taller than you in this form, not that such considerations are likely to be on her mind given the way her eyes widen. Is that a spark of recognition, you wonder, or merely a glint of the ever-changing lights of the plane in her eyes?

    Regardless, now is not the time to speak more on such matters, with devils perhaps still lurking below, and the prize of this venture not yet reclaimed. "Of course, there is a story to be told, one that is all the more fantastical for being the unvarnished truth. That tale won't be told quite yet, however, as I find myself curious in turn. What is it that you truly seek, that you would pit yourselves against foes such as these, when the Efreeti ships plying the Boiling Sea make such easy targets of themselves?"

    "'Easy targets' he says," Yrten snorts, having regained his fire in full. "You take one of those damn things and all you're left with is the corpses you have to carve up, the hull no one will buy for fear of pissing off the Brass Bastard, and maybe the weapons if you can get to 'em before the sons of bitches can beak 'em."

    You arch an eyebrow in question as you begin to move towards the hatch still mostly obscured by the hideous slug-like monstrosity now trapped in Dragonglass. "And this is not making foes, for that same dominion and the powers of Hell besides? No more than any other Arch-Fiend is the Lord of Dis forgiving."

    "It's worth it," the raider captain shrugs. "I told you about the feathered snake, right...?"

    "In rather vague terms, yes..."

    As though timed precisely to stoke the fires of your curiosity, bolts of hellfire begin raining towards you and Siduri both. There may have been the odd curse mixed in among the words of power as you weave a veil of flame over Orthons using the frozen form of their erstwhile commander for cover.

    Alone against your entire company the devils fall quickly to spell and steel, though not before the last of them nearly breaks the Xerfilstyx's dragonglass form and almost frees the trapped fiend in death. Thankfully, between Siduri's bolt of white hot lightning and a well-timed hammer blow from Yrwen crushing the armored devil like a beetle underfoot, the Xerfilstyx remains trapped.

    "Like I was saying," the Azer continues, expertly cleaning his hammerhead of the offal and bile. "The snake's a seer too, supposedly a crumb of some god the Lord of the Hells himself killed back before... well, everything."

    The fiend-kin mage rolls her eyes, retaining her own footing at the familiarity of the situation it seems. "Jazirian, called by some the World Serpent, was said to have been the twin of Asmodeus himself, the only being for whose death the Prince of Darkness ever sorrowed even as he struck the murderous blow. This feathered serpent is said to be a creature of unwavering law, though of a far more pleasant disposition than any devil. As soon as it was taken past the gates of Hell, sages and seers began having visions of its power, its wisdom, and its great need to escape before final death was upon it at the hands of the Great Sultan..."

    "Do you mean to bind him to serve you?" Dany's voice is clipped, though considering her feelings on the matter of slavery, this is a show of considerable restraint.

    "Depends on what temperament we'll find it it, but I am hopeful," Siduri replies, a little surprised.

    All the while you have been descending into the bowls of the tainted ship, while the Golden Wind's crew secures the deck.

    The smell of rust, blood, and other far more pervasive corruption filling your nostrils. The only light that can be seen comes from thick black candles burning low with a flickering flame that seems more meant to conjure shadows than to reveal the path ahead. More than once you are stymied by some lock of mechanical contraption, though thankfully one of Yrten's crewmen proves to be an excellent 'locksmith'.

    As you wait for the most recent passage to open you realize Rina has fallen behind. Concerned, you push past the others to look for her. The sound of soft sniffles, almost too low for even you to sense, greets you as you turn the corner, her eyes red in mute testament of weeping. Dany had curled around her shoulders for comfort, while Tyene stands close enough to offer solace in companionship.

    Catching your eye she shakes her head. Trusting her judgement, you do your utmost to pretend you had not noticed anything amiss.

    ***​

    Finally, the nine you find yourself before a brass door more fitting to a temple or keep than a ship, bound with seals writ in black fire that sears the eye to look upon. You could well believe this is the prison of a god, or as Yrten put it, 'a crumb of one'. Curses hideous and sublime are promised to any but the master of the ship who would open the gates.

    "It's going to take more than an unraveling to break through that," Dany notes in willful understatement. "Do you have anything that might do it?" she asks the two raiders.

    The sand-born sneak raises his hands with a fanged smile: "I don't seen no keyhole."

    "That's alright, I've got a key right here." Yrten hefts his hammer, and draws the aeon blood vial from one of his many pouches.

    "Mayhap we should study it a while longer." you offer.

    What do you do?

    [] Let Yrten try to bash the door open

    [] Spend some time studying the door

    [] Try to wish the gate open yourself

    [] Write in

    OOC: The enchantments are complicated enough that it will take at least a few hours to leverage your knowledge skills, but Viserys thinks there is at least a chance Yrten could be right.
     
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    • DP has told us before that "world serpent" is a very broad term for a lot of snake gods, so it might not be exclusive to Yss. It's possible the coatl is just another snake god entirely.
     
    [] Spend some time studying the door

    Hopefully more loot sacks will show up soon! Or that cornugon! We can take his other horn!
     
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    Duesal said:
    DP has told us before that "world serpent" is a very broad term for a lot of snake gods, so it might not be exclusive to Yss. It's possible the coatl is just another snake god entirely.
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    Yeah I know but it is still a nice thought after all can you just imagine the thought of having such a powerful and important god being Vee's belt for two years?
     
    Yeah, we are getting this snake. Dont care if we have to give away the rest of the ship but we are bringing this guy home. Either he is atleast neutral and we can keep him or if the is evil Yss gets to eat Asmodeuss beother.

    So Viserys studies it while Tyene lots over and brings Yss along? He is up right? So we might as well take care of this right here? Plus seeing a God show up show keep these guys quiet.
     
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    [X] Spend some time studying the door
    Vancian magic alone is a little dull (and thanks to DP for making magic something a bit more, well, magical, in this story); this form of ritualistic enchantement however sounds far too intriguing not to take the time to study... even if we have to repel another rescue attempt.

    We definitely need to secure the statues though, do they fit in a bag of holding ?
     
    DragonParadox said:
    OOC: The enchantments are complicated enough that it will take at least a few hours to leverage your knowledge skills, but Viserys thinks there is at last a chance Yrten could be right.
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    If I was an asshole devil, which I'm not, I would have cursed that door to destroy anything behind it if it is forced open in any way, or at the very least make things extremely deadly for anyone in the hallway.

    Never underestimate the spite of a creature that can potentially live forever, they only get better at being a dick with time.
     
    I say, we should do whatever, but we need to hurry with that.

    Devil reinforcements are inbound, that's half the reason we went here with some spellslots spent.

    So, planeshifting the ship would have been the best choice, had we not been bound by word to share the spoils :/

    Now we kind of have to loot the ship in extremely limited time ://
     
    No, Glowy Snek was a fragment of Merrshaulk (AKA Sseth).

    But it's kind of irrelevant, since all of the Snake Gods are spun off fragments of the same Supreme Deity, "The World Serpent". Including, in all probability, Yss.

    I don't think Yss is the World Serpent himself. The World Serpent is a Primordial.
     
    We need to ask them what this God has promised them.

    I want it (Yss food!), but maybe we can just talk them into giving it to us instead of killing them over it.
     
    [X] "Unless you have very good authority that your method won't destroy vast parts of the ship, perhaps we might spend a few hours attempting to unravel this? Unless you hae reason to think we are on a time limit. It would save you the use that aeon blood vial"
    -[X]If yes, bloodwish a sending to Baella "attack successful, unraveling prisoner's cage, will take a few hours, see you in a while"
    -[X] study the door with liberal use of grand destiny on party members, and allies, and other buffs and divine insight ect to find a method.

    @DragonParadox can you tell us the skills involved in analysing the door? And is there a point in buffing our wary mage friend (I.e. Does she have applicable skill ranks enough to contribute)?

    Also, bringing Rina mightttt have been detrimental to her health. Ah. Fuck.

    @DragonParadox can we ask Tyene how badly we've fucked up later?
     
    Crake said:
    No, Glowy Snek was a fragment of Merrshaulk (AKA Sseth).

    But it's kind of irrelevant, since all of the Snake Gods are spun off fragments of the same Supreme Deity, "The World Serpent". Including, in all probability, Yss.

    I don't think Yss is the World Serpent himself. The World Serpent is a Primordial.
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    Are Primordials even a thing in this setting? Have we ever heard the word in the quest?
     
    Inconclusive.

    Gods are clearly a thing. The World Serpent is clearly a thing.

    The World Serpent in regular D&D was a Primordial.
     
    DragonParadox said:
    This is not a full god, just the last remnant.
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    Even better. Feed it till it is again. Start with a Marilith a day and redirect Lolths God egg to it if needed. We are keeping this guy.
    Reader of all said:
    He is not evil the god the pirate mentioned is actually a thing in d&d here
    Jazirian - 1d4chan
    Granted it is 1d4chan so take it with a grain of salt
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    Oooh. Law, Air, Good and Death? Yss gets a new bro! Sooo keeping him. This guy was apparently there with Ao and the Lady of Pain. Chances he knew Io? New priority. Dont care about the ship, the weapons or the statues. Give it all. Take the friggin snake.

    Screw the Moon Goddess, a crew Bahamut. We have our core/token Good deity.
     
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    Either way, this one is Lawful, and since it's undeservingly suffering in hell it's probably not evil. Another Lawful Neutral snake god would be amazing.

    A sacrifice is a distant second priority if it proves to not get along with us. Another snake to stuff with sacrifices is vastly preferred. Bonus points if we can get it to give us Coatls.

    @DragonParadox, can we have the loot catalogued properly while we study this?
     
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