/q/ - Quest

>>768076
"Huh? Oh, yeah! Sorry, with all the business in Midnight Castle I didn't really get the opportunity to explain much, but in that moment, when me and the Daughter Shorty were sharing our link, I could feel what she felt, know what she knew. Gehenna herself is the LORD of BETRAYAL, the mother of all Sons and Daughters of Perdition."

"And… that's a good point. if Gehenna's no longer a LORD, could her curse finally be broken?"

>Amy
Mudi leans down as she continues to weep, her neck rolling lower and lower as her legs buckle, until it almost looks like she's about to perform a somersault.

Her voice begins at a crackling, warbling whisper. "Amy… Would you… please…"

"…ShuuuuuuuUUUUUUUUUUUUT THE FUCK UP!!!

"What are you TALKING ABOUT!?" Mudi snarls, seething much like a rabid hound herself now. "I don't want to become the queen of demons, nor of angels, nor of gods, nor of mortals! I am here to become imperator of everything! All of existence!!! That's what ALL of this has been for for CENTURIES OF WORK!!! Of course you can't take my place! You're a demon! You should know this better than anyone! The Devil's Instincts, as they're called. The second a demon encounters someone of strength equal to or greater than their own, every demon is compelled to choose– fight, flight, freeze or flee! No demon can ever escape it! You'd never know peace! You'd never be able to achieve peace, always forced to square up every time a greater demon chases you down! Nor could any Angel do it – Angels are bound by the Law of their ascendance, slaves to a code whose every stipulation might as well be a binding geas!! And don't even get me started on gods! Cogs in the machine, every single one! Don't let these avatars Buiwong and others conjure up to manipulate you. Once they've become one with the aspect of their patronage, they serve no purpose other than to sustain that element of existence! Scales weigh things because a god makes it so! We feel hot and cold and hunger and fall asleep because gods make them so! Heretics and dissidents sneer at religion because it "controls the masses!" What a bunch of nonsense from a bunch of idiots! The faith of every church and temple and mosque and shrine builds the gearworks and greases the wheels! A god has no more freedom than a timing belt or a branch swaying in the wind! They serve the world, they could never govern it!!!"

For a moment, the murderous aura of the audience is delayed yet again, this time by the spectacle of meltdown before you.

"Only a mortal can break this cycle! A mortal is the only one who is free in this world! War, poverty, disease, economic exploitation, drought, famine, flooding, betrayal, usury, deceit, covetousness, discontentment, wanderlust, longing, discomfort, loneliness, bad smells, high prices, inconvenient roaPost too long. Click here to view the full text.

>>768079
Shorthorns looks on in shock as Mudi lets out her vitriol point blank at Amy, only imagining how much grief has been stored up in the usually soft-spoken Mudi all this time as she makes her argument. Before she can retort, she takes note of the staff charging up with energy…

Moving quickly, Shorthorns puts herself between Supper and Mudi. Her fiery buffalo guardians currently preoccupied with protecting the rest of her allies from one another, Shorthorns instead decides to gamble on her own well honed defenses against what is sure to be a terrible blow, but one she is willing to take for her friends. ALL of her friends.

>Activating Commandment of Harmony: Once per combat; Automatic; For 3 turns, you and all allies may ignore all Recharge periods, and the DC for all rolls is reduced by 2.
>Activating Covalent Bonds: Auto Instant; Recharge 3; Ranged; Choose an ally (SUPPER OF CROWS). All damage they would normally take this turn will be applied to you instead. The most damage you can receive from using this ability is (Full Hits) + 2 Wounds.

>Will likely need to roll Huge for taking the hit meant for Supper, intending to stay standing at one hit if this does reduce Shorthorns to 0 Hits (or even 0 Wounds)
>Huge: instant, recharge 4; Your sheer size makes knocking you down no small feat, as you can shrug off damage that would cripple most others. Use this skill whenever you would normally have become helpless. On success you remain standing at 1 hit.
[1d10+1] (adding +1 for natural environ of the fields and Child of Gaia, DC 4 thanks to Commandment of Harmony)

Roll #1 9 + 1 = 10

>>768080
>>768079

Amy listens with a sympathetic expression as Mudi vents her frustrations and desires. Then, when Mudi attacks Flaming, Amy takes a moment to watch and ensure Flaming is okay before moving on.

"First of all, I'm not JUST a demon. I'm more than that. I'm a witch. I'm a mortal. I'm a demon. But, more important than all of that…"

Amy takes a step toward Mudi with confidence. "I'm Amy-Fucking-Thest, the Inescapable Revelrous Friendmaking Heartthief Hugger. If I've learned anything over the course of the past 2 years, it's that we're all more than just a few words. And, we're even more than THAT when we work together."

"Which is why you could never lead ANYTHING. You can't work together. And, no matter how strong you get, you'd just be putting Gehenna in charge, not you."

>persuasion [1d10]
>DC-4

Roll #1 3 = 3

>Both
You hear a surge of energy. Currents of aether, blindingly replete in hatred and pain hidden to moulder for centuries. A nebula of rotten agony darkens around Flaming.

A cosmic explosion engulfs Shorthorned, the shockwave knocking Amy back to the shore of the Momentary Lake.

Dust clears and settles. Everyone gazes in shocked stupefication at the crater where Flaming once stood. There now, an immolated fragment of divinity lays, clinging to the last tattered threads of mortal life.

>Flaming 0/1
>Grace of Life lost…

Mudi drops her staff in shock, eyes wavering and watering.

Then, Vizsla back-hoofs her across the face, with her forehoof encased in jagged ice. Mudi stumbles to the ground, clutching her cheek, as blood runs down the many gouges running through the flesh. But, more than the physical wound, the damage seems to be mental. Mudi's eyes have flown wide open, and her mouth trembles as incoherent, weeping apologies fall out, the very syllables cracking in the midst of her panic.

Vizsla turns away, and runs her bloody hoof through her own mane over and over, a compulsive tic as the shock of her abuse, fresh every time, sinks into her frozen heart.

>>767831
"Hmm, sounds like they'll have a lot to face against with us. Might even beat them at their own game," Pryce says, finding it hard to image a bigger show of force after facing off against Sir Estuary.

"Do you have an idea Alloy?" He asks, seeing his increased intrigued.

>>767832
Alloy takes a bite of his hayshbrowns. As he does, he subtly passes a strand of silk toward you. No… you recognize this. It's not spider silk. It's a White Thread. He passes another to Vortigern. Recognizing it, she accepts it quietly.

>>767833
Pryce takes the thread, under guise of grabbing another hayshbrown.
["Must be a big one I bet"] He thinks through the telepathic communication.

>>767834
River, noting the thread, leads the others in a decoy conversation, so as to cover the telepathic one to come.

We're beginners, Alloy communicates. I say we play up our beginner's luck. During practice, we shouldn't go so hard. Make mistskes, screw things up… but now and then, let some gold shine through. Present their spies with something they don't know how to interpret. Are we amateurs? Do we know what we're doing? The less they know what to make of it, the more we throw them off their game.

Hah, Vortigern communicates. You sound much like your grandfather going on like that. Just be sure you don't actually practice bad habits too much. I'll let our teammates in on the secret.

>>767835
Play a feint so they don't know what to expect, I like it. Can't imagine they wouldn't take this seriously but it might get them to play basic to speed things along. Pryce thinks, liking the alternate performance.
Don't worry, we'll just play some sleight of hoof. This might actually help out our practice more with better control in a way, He communicates to Vortigern.

>>767347
>>767346
Zamrud considers Senorita's words. "In the movies, you're right. But I don't see it as 'splitting up'." He waves at the shades, "We've essentially just doubled our party number with these shades present. We'll be the same sized group as we always were, only with shadow duplicates performing the actions of the members in the other group."

As Qhapaq's duplicate seems to catch his burrito and, in a seeming show of independence, toss it into a wastebin, Zamrud rubs his chin. "Admittedly… these shades ARE unknowns. They are clearly entities with their own thoughts, but they seem uniquely dedicated to mimicking our movements and actions as actors would. It is possible splitting our number with them would give them a chance to attack us… but, I also am not sure if they mean to break character at all."

"These are new, I take it? Nothing resembles these on your last trip here?"

>>767347
>>767350
Qhapaq hums softly, and bobs his head approvingly at his doppleganger choosing to throw the trash away. "It… became its own for a moment, at least. Interesting… what do you think, Zamrud? Are they maybe Changelings, somehow?"

>>767349
"I wonder why changelings never venture into the Outlands… perhaps I can ask one when we return." He remarks, frowning softly.

>>767348
You study his anxious fretting. He seems ill at ease, but keeps it together for now. He resembles someone who is overwhelmed by an excess of work. Too many projects, too much paperwork, and never enough time. Nothing in particular seems to be threatening him. Perhaps if he had something to occupy him, you might placate his extreme work ethic.

>>767351
>>767350
La Senorita is not convinced, and makes a sound like a trolley whistle. "Please keep all limbs inside the vehicle – board and disembark the train in an orderly fashion."

There's a joke in here somewhere, but the greater concern for the moment is that she really does not want to split the party…

>>767352
>>767351

"Qhapaq hand me the script please, I think Dexter may need something to do and proofreading the script may assist, or if any of you have any homework he may be amenable."

>>767353
Qhapaq passes the script off to Good, bobbing his head a little bit and looking back to his doppleganger. Did he also have something to pass off?

>>767352
"Mmm- I agree. It would not do to separate the party here… though, I can understand the idea."

>>753969
LukeWarm flies into more hysterics as he points and shouts at every Luke around him "Yeah great fucking accomplishment. Me. MEEEE. Is that what it's all about. You manufactured the biggest loser in the world. How am I supposed to live knowing I'll never hold a son of my own! How am I supposed to look at Lavender and tell her I cum alcohol! I'm supposed to live my life for you. Well tell me how to unfuck it first!"

>>753970
Business Luke flicks his cigarette away and pokes at LukeWarm's chest "Thats for you to figure out. We've had all the time to figure out our hang ups. And if you don't like it well guess what Mister Hero, that's what you get for always being such a shoddy person when you could be the world's last hope. It's not the end of the world Luke. But it will be if we don't take you now." Business Luke snaps his fingers and The Lukes begin assembling a portable station for time travel.

>>753971
It's without much fanfare that the Lukes round together and drag LukeWarm toward the portable station.

The First Luke greets LukeWarm. He grabs LukeWarm's chin raising it so he can look him in the eyes "We are all counting on you Luke. We can't do this without you. You're all our hopes and dreams now."

The First Luke steps back "AAAAALT-MEN!"
And every Luke responds in unison "RISE UP!"

They step forward now to the final battle that awaits them.

[End Session]

flushing out rolls for mlpg

[1d10]

[1d10]

[1d10]

[1d10]

[1d10]

[1d10]

[1d10]
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[18d10+2]

Roll #1 7, 1, 5, 10, 3, 7, 4, 9, 4, 2, 5, 2, 10, 5, 6, 1, 4, 3 + 2 = 90

>>765937
"Wow, Should think up a smart name for you lil buddy." he said rubbing his chin sitting back "Aurelius? No too prentious." he hummed a bit "Dexter? Like Poindexter?"

>>765938
The rodent offers no response, instead sniffing around your snack stash, perhaps for something sweet.

>>765939
He offered him a few chocolate sandwich cookies.

>>765940
The rodent takes one cookie, and scampers off to enjoy it. Trajan, who had been stretching his legs elsewhere, has a nibble of one of the other cookies.

>>765937
"That does make me think that this place is more hyperbolic and could have been another's dream or perspective on this school. Though I don't know if this train of thought could help us." Billy falls sullen.

>>765940
"It is quite a cute thing."

>>767414
"Yea…" Cloud agrees. "Even if everything here goes smoothly, we gotta get the ship all the way back up to the surface. It's not gonna be easy going forward. And at some point I have to find Obstinance to help him for helping with Stone Cold too."

>>767414

"The what now!?" Cutlass says a little too loudly, surprised by this news.

"You know, I have a… thing about mutineers. Bad history," Cutlass says looking toward Schnitzel. "But, I guess I shouldn't be surprised with all the lying. The murder, on the other hand… What in the world happened?"

>>767415
Etch nods with respect. "I see… perhaps you might call it one of those happy accidents of engineering. I have my share of those, time and again… usually when I smack the material I'm shaping a little too hard with the hammer or crank it too far with the wrench. I heard you and he were separated by happenstance, and reunited when Cloud brought you down here. Shall you continue with us on our journeys through the seas after this? On every island, we have seen some depart our ship, having found what they went to sea to search for. And others have joined us, just the same, to seek what they have not yet found on land."

>>767416
Her Aura feels unchanged from the last you examined it – strong, yet strangely dormant.

"Confusion… and lunchtime cravings for barbecue," Splendid answers, honest as ever. She frets a little. "W-was this a test? Is this what you Aura-users mean when you talk about trials and breakpoints? Did I pass?"

She pokes a little at the air with a flat palm, making a "pew" sound. Nothing happens.

>>767417
"And here I thought ponies went to sea for a vacation," Chiu jokes. "Seems like we always find no end of work, island to island."

Granny, floating nearby, scoffs. "Even hiring me couldn't reduce your workload – it just freed up more time for you all to find trouble to get tied up in."

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>>767419
"I shall probably be along for the ride for a while, and thus Two Tons shall as well. I have no real destination in mind other than studying this bizarre place and growing as an individual. Finding fortune is always nice though."

>>767419
"Guess its karma for my slacking before, heh," Cloud jests at their increasing toils.

"We could find that cloud nine everypony talks about," Cloud plays off for their sky vacation. "Once we get back to land we'll have our vacation, or at least a short honeymoon."

>>766590
"So we don't know who's entirely on our side yet then," Pryce says as they give the reason for waiting.

When Vortigern lays out the question of how defended they are from the angels, Pryce is silent, thinking it over a moment. The pressure of Alloy avoiding his gaze and the eyes make him review this carefully.
"I… cannot say for certain. When I connected to that pony's mind, there was an overwhelming positivity, but I could only think of the Rapture from what I saw. And with Alloy's power, I still see and hear Buiwong. I don't know how much these impacted me in that moment, but it still took effort to escape that vision. The best I can say is with our knowledge of it now, we could resist it for a moment, and it'll take all of our effort to reject it in that moment to avoid ending up like that villager."

>>766591
Vortigern nods then looks to Alloy. When he realizes that you're taking this in stride, he clears his throat. "I'd have to test it… but assuming they're similar enough powers, it should work in theory. I may have to increase the strength of my influence to fully repel the other one. Now, I wouldn't be strong enough to fend off a draconic lord directly, but I don't think the villager we fought got hypnotized by them personally. More likely, by one of their servants, using a weaker version of the same general power. Them, I could probably keep at bay, in case they tried to influence us directly… and without leaving any permanent damage."

"How do you feel about testing it on prisoners?" Vortigern asks.

"Excuse me!?" Alloy snaps.

"The prisoners of war we have here show signs like that which the captured villager shows," Vortigern says. "You may be able to help them return to a general sanity, if your power can reduce the influence of the draconic lords on them."

"I guess…" Alloy mutters. "Still… testing on POWs…?"

"You can say no," Vortigern says. "But if you're concerned for the ethics of it, understand that our foes have already cast the die further than any of us could. And you'd be doing it to heal, not to compel them to fight, as the lords have."

Alloy, troubled, does not answer right away.

>>766592
The mention of permanent damage leaves Pryce with some worry on what they're dealing with, but he does trust that Alloy wouldn't do anything with malicious intent or damage on purpose.
When Vortigern suggests testing his power and training on the prisoners, Pryce also is thrown off guard. It feels wrong when they've already been through enough. But, after the glass condition they saw in Vitral, their options of dealing with angelic afflictions is limited, if not null entirely. And then his mind lingers to the question of Sarajinae, if she could also be affected by the draconic lords and angels in this way to be working for them.

"…If it is to heal, that is our best bet," Pryce says as a suggestion. "We don't know if the dragon lords or the angels intended to reverse this at some point, of if they even can. The last time we could undo one of their effects took an artifact, and we don't have anything close to that anymore. But, the decision is up to you Alloy. I don't want to push you if you're not comfortable with it."

>>766593
Hearing you vouch for him with trust changes something in Alloy. A weight lifts from his shoulders… and from yours as well, as the pressure of the eyes goes away– you realize that, from the start, it came from inside your own mind.

Alloy nods to Vortigern. "Okay… I'll try it."

"Good," Vortigern says. "I'll allot you some of my circle of wise women to help."

She looks over to the rest of your group. "While you lay low, the village could use help with curtailing the region's monster population. With the uprising, we haven't been able to spare the fighters to keep numbers balanced."

River looks intrigued. "You need someone to play monster hunter for you?"

Sugar looks at the camera.

"Uhh, yes," Vortigern says, with the demeanor of one who realizes she has missed a joke but doesn't want to admit it.

>>766594
Pryce feels a sense of hope after Alloy decides to test it, that they could stand equal to the angels if this goes well.

"Almost sounds like our game of Witches and Wargs," Pryce comments at the job offer.
"How bad could the population be? I don't remember seeing too many on our last two trips," He asks.

>>764123
Gabriele seems somewhat dejected but mostly annoyed by the utter lukewarm response. "Well, don't everyone stand up at once…" she mutters under her breath

As Volkama calls her over, her expression lights up, fluttering over to him graciously. "Yes, hello Volkama! I take it you might be interested? You see, I was hoping to have some posters made were it not too much trouble."

>>764123
As the cheerleader mentions that Amy doesn't come until it's about to begin, Flaming grumbles under her breath. "Agh, darn it… I'm kind of in a hurry, I need to find her and then go to another club BEFORE wrestling starts! Can you at least tell her when she comes by to stop by the Occult Club after practice is over?"

As the other mare calls her out, Flaming winces as the loud call causes her headache to act up again. "OUCH! Not so loud, I can hear you just fine!" She says looking at the mare, "I was just looking for Amy, but don't worry, I'm going!"

>>764123
Pryce assists Summer along with the minor details, working as a good assistant.
"You're a real pro at this, don't think I've seen anypony move so quick through a kitchen," He says impressed.

He looks over as another of the members enters. As Solar comments on him, he nods.
"Mhm, though I can't stay too long on baseball or drama practice days. Aside from those I'll be helping around the kitchen."

>>764124
"Ladie Gab you are too loud, gab, gab, gab that is what you do, quiet down would you." Volkama waves his hoof at you as if shirking off your enthusiasm. He drinks from his thermos filled with chai tea and coca cola. It smells delicious

Mocha wears a pursed lip, she refrains from saying anything but you can tell she agrees with Volkama. Not the best way to approach a group of introverts.

"One step at a time Gabriele. Why don't I rouse my student's attention for you. Then you may tell them what it is you came here for. How does that sound?"

>>764125
"Sure! I'll make sure to do just that" Dania gives you a warm smile befitting someone you can trust.

Princess Laciela says "Thaank yoou." But it doesn't sound all that grateful.

>>764126
"OOoooooooh" Solar Wind coos illustriously "A real man is helping you out in the kitchen. Aren't you so lucky."

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>>764127
[PAUSED]