I'll also vote for it, @Artemis1992. It's a great class.
Anyway, this aside, I'm gonna start drawing up plans in advance for the Heart Trees we're gonna grow throughout the Stepstones and in He'Nekar.
We currently have enough Living Brass weapons & armor for Westhaven, Saltcliff, Port Sorrow, Deepcleft, and He'Nekar.
DP has already confirmed to me via PM that the sacrifice of the weapons and armor would in no way alert the Sultan, unlike the sacrifice of the Great Brass Seals, so we're good to go.
People, what do you think the advantages for Scholarum mages sould be? Why should a mage remain a part of the Scholarum and not just an affiliated mage free to sell his talents to the nobility or the Myrish glassmakers?
People, what do you think the advantages for Scholarum mages sould be? Why should a mage remain a part of the Scholarum and not just an affiliated mage free to sell his talents to the nobility or the Myrish glassmakers?
Maybe we could have Rina craft an item that lets her use her spell slots to cast healing spells? I think something like that would be great for her. Admittedly, I'm a complete noob when it comes to dnd mechanics, but I think something like that would be a great reward for her.
People, what do you think the advantages for Scholarum mages sould be? Why should a mage remain a part of the Scholarum and not just an affiliated mage free to sell his talents to the nobility or the Myrish glassmakers?
Some mages don't take up permanent positions, but they are still a part of the Institution unless they take up another office.
They are free to sell their talents on the side, regulated as that sector will be by their peers, but will still have every obligation of the Mage estate, clearly outlined in our Constitution.
The advantage of not becomibg a noble or some other political official is funding for research, position in Academia, peer review for projects, and the ability to employ your skills commercially.
This is an unnecessary diatraction for a ruler. They can pay others for magic, and we can keep an eye on most sales.
Small issue there: She won't get another Capstone.
Her Rimefire Witch goes to 16 (and I really want her to finish that), after that it's only 4 levels.
I don't think there is any class with less than 5 levels that has a proper capstone, so I build a class that's as well left unfinished.
Ah. Fourth level then? Getting Rina the ability to heal is one of my long term goals, and a class feature can make it "hers", more appealing than just going to the OG, but either work fine in the end.
Maybe we could have Rina craft an item that lets her use her spell slots to cast healing spells? I think something like that would be great for her. Admittedly, I'm a complete noob when it comes to dnd mechanics, but I think something like that would be a great reward for her.
Some mages don't take up permanent positions, but they are still a part of the Institution unless they take up another office.
They are free to sell their talents on the side, regulated as that sector will be by their peers, but will still have every obligation of the Mage estate, clearly outlined in our Constitution.
The advantage of not becomibg a noble or some other political official is funding for research, position in Academia, peer review for projects, and the ability to employ your skills commercially.
This is an unnecessary diatraction for a ruler. They can pay others for magic, and we can keep an eye on most sales.
They can be nobles, but when they also have positions of authority among the nobility, they must surrender all authority in the Scholarum and go back to being rank-and-file members.
They can be nobles, but when they also have positions of authority among the nobility, they must surrender all authority in the Scholarum and go back to being rank-and-file members.
Think it's more they can be both a Seated Noble whil also being a Titles Mage. You know you can be a Lord while also being head of the Abjuration department or something.
Nobles can and probably will learn magic but they cant be nobles while also being an authority among mages at the same time. Authority over Man or Authority over Mages. Not both.
Authority in the Scholarum means you get to directly regulate mages throughout the Imperium. They're the ones who hand out licenses, who decide if certain projects have to be shut down, etc. They're not just teachers.
Teana, for example, is a LOT more important than just being a teacher.
After some careful thought on the matter you decide to try and find King Maegor's passages, though the task will require more sorcery than simply secreting yourself in an abandoned apartment or the Godswood. Without time to study the blood-inked wards that whisper all around you, there is no way to be certain if you can safely translocate from one part of the keep to another. A failed attempt at that might be considerably harder to explain than simply being in the wrong place for 'a humble spice trader'.
Speaking of spices, your first stop is the grand kitchen where you hand over the jars you had first shown the guards. The head cook, a garrulous fellow with an affection for improbably-paired colors you would have called garish before you met your fill of Tyroshi magisters, is surprised by the delivery of precious spices he had neither ordered nor paid for, but the matter is soon dealt with to everyone's satisfaction. A greased palm opens many doors.
"...I'll put in a good word with you with the seneschal I will. I'm sure your cousin'll be a fine footman. Why the king might even knight him. Generous man, King Robert. You just have to learn to stay clear of the queen. She sees spies and sneaks everywhere these days..."
After finally extricating yourself from the stream of cheerful gossip, a slightly greasy but still surprisingly legible note of recommendation in hand, you head towards the aforementioned seneschal's quarters, silently thanking whatever self-important courtier had first decided that his position warranted far greater dignity than to be constrained to the Kitchen Keep. Now with an actual excuse to linger around Maegor's Holdfast, you proceed to slowly map it out, methodically matching your surroundings to old memories...
Thankfully you are by dress and manner beneath the notice of most of the noble courtiers while the various servants are too busy with their tasks to wonder about one man and little girl wandering the corridors. After all, no spy would walk so boldly about in broad daylight, and your features are through Tyene's artifice anything but memorable.
All the while Dany looks around for entrances hidden in plain view and you listen to the stone and the blood with which it was mortared. You come to understand that wards that Maegor wrought and what you find is sickening. They are mighty, yes, as a =savaged beast whipped and shackled into submission, or hate, rage, and treachery begotten, birthed in the death-screams of the keep's builders as they were walled alive.
So dreadful are those echoes, the distant pleading of the dead, that you almost miss the sight of the white-cloaked man ahead, until Dany silently warns you. The girth which the armor cannot quite disguise as well as the bald head mark the Kingsguard as Ser Boros Blount, by all accounts the least of the Usurper's knights, a braggart and a fool, the butt of many smallfolk japes.
The young woman he is currently escorting, however, is far indeed from laughing. Her eyes are red from tears, her voice is shaking as she pleads with the knight. "I dint steal nothing. T'was just a handful of dragons a found tumbled in the mud. Can't we just talk about this before you take me to see the queen...?"
"So you mean to pay me in flesh, whore?" the knight sneers. "The queen has a short way with that sort, too. I'd say you got that coin lifting your skirts, but the queen doesn't want you for harlotry or theft. Who did you meet last week at the docks, eh?"
"A spy?" the maid pales, white as a sheet. "I ain't no spy! Please, Ser, you have to believe me! You can't...."
"She is lying, I can see it in her thoughts." Dany's voice in your mind surprises you. "She's scared to death, but she's thinking 'why didn't I run?' And there's an image of a dark passage behind an old dresser somewhere." After a brief pause, she adds, "The knight is... enjoying this." If looks could kill then the one she throws the Ser Boros would have skewered him at thirty paces.
It looks like you had found your way into the hidden passages, assuming you could get her away from the thug in a white cloak long enough to find out where that is, and hopefully for good. Spying on the Usurper is hardly a sin as far as you are concerned, certainly not whatever fate Queen Cersei will inflict on her.
What do you do?
[] Try to rescue the maid somehow
-[] Write in
[] Move on and keep looking for passages the hard way
-[] Take more risks to enter nobles' chambers
-[] Try to simply burrow through the hill with magic
-[] Write in
[] Write in
OOC: Your luck and rolls were poor to middling this time around, not bad enough that you have to improvise to keep from getting caught, but also not good enough that you actually found the passages directly.
I'll also vote for it, @Artemis1992. It's a great class.
Anyway, this aside, I'm gonna start drawing up plans in advance for the Heart Trees we're gonna grow throughout the Stepstones and in He'Nekar.
We currently have enough Living Brass weapons & armor for Westhaven, Saltcliff, Port Sorrow, Deepcleft, and He'Nekar.
DP has already confirmed to me via PM that the sacrifice of the weapons and armor would in no way alert the Sultan, unlike the sacrifice of the Great Brass Seals, so we're good to go.
Let's not touch this!
Seriously, if she escapes then they'll start using Divination and will almost certainly figure out that we were inside their home. We don't want to panic them this much yet!
People, what do you think the advantages for Scholarum mages sould be? Why should a mage remain a part of the Scholarum and not just an affiliated mage free to sell his talents to the nobility or the Myrish glassmakers?
What about a non-trivial tax on the income of mages who are not part of the Scholarium and a more significant one on goods produced by those mages,?
Other perks could include well appointed and heavily warded living quarters, discounts on crafting materials, and access to certain Scholarium services for free or at a discount.
The Scholarium should also be made one of the pillars of our society, not just in that it is important, but that it is the single most prestigious method of advancement for mages, and the primary means through which they can gain any degree of temporal power.
A good salary for Scholarium mages is also very important and something we can easily handle, considering how relatively little that would be in comparison to our other expenses. I'm sure some nobles or other interests will hire some mages away from the Scholarium, but as the number of mages increases, their services will become less scarce, and therefore the salaries they can expect from these outsiders will decrease accordingly.
Tree of Westhaven "The face of a Legion officer, demanding discipline and respect with every line of his face." CL 20 Hallow Effect
Secondary Effect 1: Panacea —> People are healed, and afterwards they are expected to help tend to the godswood for a month as payment. Secondary Effect 2: Heart's Ease
Secondary Effect 3: Greater Magic Weapon
Tree of Saltcliff "A young girl looking out over the island with open joy." CL 20 Hallow Effect
Secondary Effect 1: Panacea —> People are healed, and afterwards they are expected to help tend to the godswood for a month as payment. Secondary Effect 2: Heart's Ease
Secondary Effect 3: Safe Clearing
Tree of Port Sorrow "A wizened old man, looking over the town with grandfatherly fondness." CL 20 Hallow Effect
Secondary Effect 1: Panacea —> People are healed, and afterwards they are expected to help tend to the godswood for a month as payment. Secondary Effect 2: Heart's Ease
Secondary Effect 3: Safe Clearing
Tree of Deepcleft "A laughing one-eyed rogue that would look right at home in one of the town's taverns." CL 20 Hallow Effect
Secondary Effect 1: Panacea —> People are healed, and afterwards they are expected to help tend to the godswood for a month as payment. Secondary Effect 2: Heart's Ease
Secondary Effect 3: Healthful Rest
Tree of He'Nekar "A beautiful young woman of Valyrian heritage, looking to the sea with a smile." CL 20 Hallow Effect
Secondary Effect 1: Panacea —> People are healed, and afterwards they are expected to help tend to the godswood for a month as payment. Secondary Effect 2: Heart's Ease
Secondary Effect 3: Tongues
Could we use magic to put him to sleep and erase some memories? Check for wards or magical defenses of course in case he has any since he is a Kingsguard.
Could we use magic to put him to sleep and erase some memories? Check for wards or magical defenses of course in case he has any since he is a Kingsguard.
Hmmm... I'm smelling a Baelish spy. Should be interesting, though if we do anything at all it must pass muster. Just a lucky thief managing to elbow Boros in the forehead and leaving him unconscious to carry out her escape... not something worthy of spending a divination session.
Edit: Beware everyone, Boros is a pathetic Kingsguard, but he is a Kingsguard. He's likely to be decked in high level armor and items, the best lannister gold can buy.
While my instinctive reaction would be to try to help her, I'm also certain that doing so would jeopardize the plan right now. As Artemis said we can only erase 5 minutes of memory, and I'm also unsure of who else might know of this which would cause a problem if the change in memories comes to light.
