/vx/ - Videogames and Paranormal

>>117103
He witnesses the cigar taking offering, looking wary.
"Are you sure that is safe for consumption? It looks unedible."

>>117103
"Ah, forgive me, but such a long way to here? What brought you?"

>>117105
She grabs it in the magic, and smiles in a half-laugh at Silver
"You really are from teh jungle. It's not for eating"

>>117106
"My Nephew told us of this place when he was here. It sounded lovely. Equestria seemed like a lovely place. After I lost the pistachio plantation, I thought I would come here"

>>117104
He looks at Silver with big, puppy dog eyes
"Okay...."
He relinquishes the cigar

>>117107
"Well, someday I hope you get it visit some of the better parts. I think you would rather enjoy it."

>>117108
She nods slowly, with a tired smile.
"Maybe..."
She blinks, then blinks again thrice in rapid succession
"Are there criminals and Rashaka elsehwere in Equestria?"

>>117109
"I have never heard of Rashaka before, so I believe you would be safe from those. As for criminals, they are fairly sparce and there will always be a pony willing to help you."

>>117107
Iron glances at the relinquished cigar.
"Thank the gods. It looks poisonous."

>>117110
She nods
“Good... because I do not want to encounter those things ever again”

>>117111
“Don’t be a bitch”
She takes the thing, and places it in her mouth

>>117104
Silver may want to pay attention to Mala’s answer fo Dark Star’s question >>117090 >>117091

>>117112
"I cannot blame you. How are your legs feeling?"

>>117112
Iron cocks his eyes at her wording, frowning.
He strokes her mane still out of habit still, but his efforts are reduced, glancing at Khoi.

>>117113
Eh...okay?

Silver comes over and places a hoof on Mala's shoulder.

>>117115
*Iron narrows his eyes slightly

>>117091
"That is Absolutely Disgusting."
Dark Star's face has a Loathing expression on it.
"Just one more reason to Hate these Bucking Monsters,Hook Beaked Bastards. They will pay for everything that they have done, all the suffering they've caused. this ends tonight."
Star's face goes from Loathing to outright hate.

>>117115
She takes it out, and looks up at Iron
“What?”

Khoi is over by the other wall. Looking onwards. Listening

>>117114
“A little better. They are not numb anymore. I can move them now. Stretch them.”

>>117118
Mala looks to be mostly unsettled by Dark Star’s reaction
“I’m sorry...”

>>117116
And so he does so. Mala looks up at Silver, before looking back to Dark Star

>>117119
"Good, that is good progress. You will get there, even if it takes some time. Just let me know if you wish to rest or do something different."

>>117119
"I do not know when, as I have...admittedly many things I must do tomorrow, but perhaps you would like to go out for something to eat? I think I know place that will be to your tastes."

>>117119
Iron shakes his head, before standing up, ending their stroking session but not before giving a farewell pet and a small forced smile.
(She has red flags all over. I better disengage.)
He decides to walk up to Khoi instead.
"So how was life back in wherever you came from?"

>>117119
"What's Wrong? you don't have to be sorry i wasnt talking about you. i know you didnt have a choice."
He pets mala

>>117121
“No, I like trotting in place. It is like galloping up and down the valley in the springtime... I can almost smell the flowers”
She looks around, eyes not quite locking in on anything
“You know, I though I remember the flowers being bluer...”
And she is silent

>>117123
She is locked forward
“Don’t like a mare smoking? Back off. I am trying to listen”

>>117122
He looks up at him. Brown eyes, black fuzzy muzzle. He looks intrigued
“That’s nice if you.... but bread and beats will make me sick if I eat for too many days”

>>117124
*gnoll is pet*
“But that’s just the thing... they were the only ones who even offered friendship to me. Or claimed to offer it, anyways...”

>>117125
Midnight doesn't respond, silently guiding her fellow equine while trying to make her feel comfortable.
Inside, she is already swearing revenge against whatever did this to Meadows.

>>117125
He smiles. "I do not know exact gnoll diet, but I would not imagine you are well suited to living as omnivore. No, I saw place where griffons and polar bears go to be served and eat meat. Sounds like kind of fare that would suit you."

>>117126
"I'll be your friends mala."
He Smiles at him

>>117129
*Friend

>>117125
Iron shakes his head.
"We both know it is not only that."
Nevertheless, he decides to watch what Khoi is witnessing to pass time, maybe he can feel what she's feeling.

>>117127
So highland meadows torts in place in her 18 foot diameter circle, inside of the poorly lit room in the basement of an abandoned mare’s shelter.
“Tell me, what is the Canterlot mountain like?”
She trots forward
“I feel the cool air... I can imagine it. It is like I am there”

>>117129
His eyes go wide, and for once, his natural frown turns into a smile
“... Really?”

>>117128
“That would be, that would be very good”
He sounds happier

>>117132
"I Promise. You seem like a Good Creature."
He Gives Mala a hug

>>117132
"I will see what I can do about schedule." He smiles.

>>117133
>>117134
Dark Star hugs the gnoll. He’s actually surprisingly fluffy to touch, even if there is a smell to him.

Mala is very happy at Silver’s offer as well
“I don’t think anyone has offered to take me out into the town in a long time. At least not for food. At a real restaurant.”

He smiles. It’s kind of a toothy smile, but there’s nothing he can do about that

>>117131
“Really now? Because I see you slobbering all over the first mare to show interest in you. Until she tries to take a smoke to calm her nerves after always I can assure you had been a very long day. You try to control her, she resists, and you discard her.”
Though her tone is serious, her face never moves from its position facing forward and towards the access tunnel

>>117136
"Then it is time to break that streak." He stands up. "Are you ready to move on? It is not best time or place to idle."

>>117138
"I Agree. We need to strike them now."

>>117137
"It is not about control," Iron explains plainly and calmly. "More about concluding that our personalities do not match in a healthy way after exploring the other pony's personality and quirks."

[1d20+4 = 10]
>>117140
Khoi shrugs, still looking forward. At this point Sands slowly walks into line of sight between Iron and Khoi (or on the other side of the two are very close together.
“How is this for a personality trait? Big guy right here has a different girl back at home. A zebra, in fact.”

At this point, the jilted and discarded Sands takes the lit cigar, and, with a glow of magic, flicks it at Iron.

“Tells you what you need to know about him, hmph! Trying on every mare he meets like clothing, discarding or putting away the ones he doesn’t like”
She shakes her head, and walks out of line of sight

>>117138
“Sure...”
He stands up

>>117132
Midnight grins a little bit as she thinks
"They are beautiful. Very steep mountain and cliffs, with very many waterfalls breaking up the rocky scenery. Then there is Canterlot, nestled inbetween the ridges of the mountains. Many tall spires, pure white, gold, and purple set it apart from the cliff sides. I used to enjoy finding a nice place to rest and just view the city, watching pegasi fly in and out as the waterfalls flowed...."

>>117115
>>117123
Maybe I should be happy that it went as well as it did for as long as it did, because frankly I was expecting much less. I was expecting you to meta-game yourself out of the situation immediately. I was very pleasantly surprised to see you not-meta game and play along. It was very fun and enjoyable, and it let me flesh characters and provide some minor conflict. I am not in the slightest surprised that the fun character moments didn’t last. But I’m not “happy that it happened.” I’m both disappointed and angry about how it fell apart.

Please listen carefully, because I mean it in all sincerity. When you use metagaming to do shit that entirely sucks the fun out of the experience, there will be bad consequences. It ended absolutely terribly for Dark Star when his player did it, and so it shall be for you and yours. When the other characters are having fun and fruitful interactions with NPCs in downtime, Iron shall have nothing, or less pleasant interactions. Every creature in that hallway is witness to Iron being super affectionate to a victim of the traffickers, getting upset over one supper minor thing, then not even 10 seconds later, walking up to and talking to a different mare, a mare who knows damned good and well that she was not his first choice. When you do things in character that are justified only because of knowledge outside of character, the characters in the scene are going to see an irrational schizo who does hurtful things just because he has a shitty personality. That’s not going to go over any better with the characters than it does with me personally.

Don’t give me some bullshit about, “no, it’s actually because of the cigar.” That autistic shit is as obnoxious as the derailment-by-meta gaming. It was frustrating beyond measure whenever Ash did it. It was infuriating when you did it out of character that one time Blue Skies shared a scene with Silver. Frankly, that shit is just another form of meta-gaming, because it inserts the player’s personal preferences over the actions of the character in a way that doesn’t really make sense in the setting. This is the fucking 1940s East Coast United States amongst the poor and working class. Smoking is perfectly socially acceptable. There is no Surgeon General’s warning, no fear of “big tobacco,” no Truth.org, no ban on smoking in public buildings, and no studies about cancer. A moral crusade against smoking - barring the parallels to the Nazi party, which decidedly does not include your character - simply doesn’t exist in this setting.

Your character has very little reason at all to even have any comprehension of what smoking is. He has no reason at all to think that is bad, beyond maybe a bad smell. And frankly your character should be used to bad smells. He has absolutely no reason for smoking to be the one and only thing he is ever moralistic about. Inserting modern moralism into this setting is immersion breaking, and it’s immersion breaking for everyone because everyone can hear your shrieks.

Even if it did make sense in the context of the story, and even if it it weren’t an immersion breaking insertion of modern moral opinion in a setting where it has no place, it would still be obnoxious. And that’s because dear god, has it been expressed in a shrill manner. There are plenty of other evils within the story that deserve far greater indignation.

The characters watching Iron do all of this - and they can’t miss it, because it’s super public - aren’t going to think “oh, she wanted to puff a cigar after being rescued from being held prisoner by gangsters. I can see why it wouldn’t work out” because no real person in that era would think that way, and frankly very few people with functioning minds even in modern times think that way. They are also not going to perceive it as a pretext for ditching Sands because of her other unsavory characteristics. Most of them don’t know about Sand’s other unsavory characteristics, and the only one who does, Khoi, knows damned good and well that Iron does not.

They are only going to see a stallion who is nice to a mare for a moment. They are going to see a mare who has been through some bad shit - evidently being abducted and held prisoner. They see the wounds left on her body from her captivity. They heard her imply that her loved ones are all dead, presumably from circumstances relating to the invasion of her homeland by Communist Griffins. And so after this, after all of this, they see her try to calm her excited nerves by smoking a cigar that would ordinarily be too expensive for a poor war refugee like her.

And what does Iron do? At random, he leaves her, and immediately starts hitting on an entirely different mare who he blew off earlier. What the fuck kind of shit person does that? Would you want to date that? Would you trust that? Would you honestly believe that that kind of person would come to your aid in battle? Do you think that kind of person would risk themselves to help you up if you fell down in the heat of battle? Would you want to help that kind of person? Are you sure they aren’t the same kind of person as the griffin captors, just wearing a different coat?

Jesus, this made me so angry this morning that I was late to work because of thinking about it. Midnight’s post is super sweet though. I’ll try to think about that instead
\r

>>117143
She closes her eyes and trots about with gaiety
“I hope I don’t fall off cliff”
Then her trot turns into a prance, as she adds little skips of the hoof
“I am there...”
And for a moment, she prances on, her mane bouncing. Then she slows down, slows down. Stops. She opens her eyes
“The spires of Canterlot don’t shine gold like I used to imagine them. Even the grass is not so green...”

She looks over to midnight. Except she doesn’t quite, her eyes seem to miss her by a few degrees.
“Is it still so pretty to you?”

>>117145
"No... It is not... It has not been since the war started, but I prefer to imagine it as it was. It gives me a sort of hope. A reminder of what I want... A hope that things can return, not to as they were, but maybe... Just maybe a little bit better."

>>117146
The smile dissipates. She looks over to Midnight, and this time she points her head at Midnight, an improvement over how she was previously. But her eyes point a little down and off to the left from Midnight’s eyes, missing the mark

“But I cannot imagine it being so golden. Even my memories are washed of color...”
She is silent for a moment, and the muscles in her face seem to pull back in fear
“Will it always be like this?”

>>117147
Midnight slowly hugs Meadows, as not to startle her, praying to Luna that some of her own courage can rub off onto the mare.
"No, it won't. Things will get better... Even if it takes some time, you just have to hope."

>>117148
Her head follows Midnight as she comes up to her, and is not surprised when Midnight hugs her. It’s a little difficult to hug her. She’s taller than Midnight, and either because of her natural build, slow starvation, or both, she has a skinnier frame that feels bony.

“Can you help me with the hope? I have difficulty seeing it myself”

>>117142
"When this is over, I would also be glad to help you through what is troubling you. You have clearly been through lot."

>>117149
"Of course, it is always easier when another pony helps"
As she embraces her, she uses one of her lay on hooves points to heal her some, hoping that it helps.

>>117150
Um.... Hi floofer. But which creature is he saying this to?

>>117151
The room is pretty dark, mostly illuminated by one light towards the back that still works out if a set of about four, and the light from the hallway. It would be easy to trip over objects even without blindness. But the darkness of the room is briefly overcome by a dim but clearly present blue light that seeps out of Midnight’s hooves, and into Meadow’s barrel. She tenses up for a moment, then relaxes and breathes. She looks down at Midnight. Directly into her eyes, with eyes that are blue-gray.
“You have quite the touch...”
She lifts up a hoof, and then another

>>117152
Midnight softly smiles up at the larger mare
"So I have been told before. How do you feel now?"

>>117150
"I'll be happy to do the same."
He says to mala

>>117150
>>117155
His doglike tail perks up at Silver’s words and moves too and fro
“Yes, I would like that. Very much so.”

When Dark Star speaks, his tail positively wags
“Really? Hah, ha”
His laugh thankfully doesn’t sound like the gnollish laugh. It’s more Pony-like
“Two friends in one day?”

>>117154
“I feel... better. I think I can see slightly better”
Her muzzle returns to a smile

\r

>>117156
"Good good, when this is all over I will do my best to help you. You have my word."
She gives the mare a gentle squeeze before releasing her from the hug.

>>117156
Silver smiles at seeing the gnoll happy. "I suppose so."

>>117156
"Yep."
He Smiles at the gnoll

>>117157
She is hugged. Her coat in large part has the feel of some partly dried substance in it. Sometimes it’s wet. But underneath all of that, she has a coat of short hair that surely must serve well in hotter, mountainous environment
“I don’t really want to be dependent... I don’t know how to repay your kindness”
She does a minor bow to Midnight after she is released from the hug, including her left hoof being turned upwards in a sort of curtesy that accompanies the bow
“But you have my gratitude”

>>117158
>>117159
He is smiling. His teeth are a bit less even than you’d see in a dog, although a little bigger
“Two pony friends! I’ve never had that before.”

>>117160
"You do not have to repay me, seeing you start to feel better is enough."
Midnight returns the gesture, hoping she doesn't look like an idiot for it.

>>117160
"I'm glad you're happy."

>>117142
Iron cocks his head at the retreating Sands, then turns back to the original position, with no attempt to stop the cigar from hitting Iron's body.
(It is intriguing how she went out of her way to say that. I wonder what is fueling her.)
>>117144
Oh no, it's not metagaming. Just as Iron cannot stand Skies' abrasive, forward and sometimes lewd attitude, he cannot stand Sands' quirks as a pony. He, of course, was exploring her actions and mannerisms, but she kept on sending subtle signals of future conflict later, obviously starting from Silver taking her away for a private talk when the two couldn't possibly have unless there was a secret going on, but kept on piling up with her constant acts of self interest and subsequent challenge that drove Iron away. It's not about being a changie or not. I'd obviously had gone with dicking the changie, since he'd love to try that out, but he can't share a life with that sort of personality without things escalating into an even larger dumpster fire, and he has the foresight not to keep at it.
It's not the smoking, it's the retort that came with it, and it was the final straw of many. A mare whose only purpose so far is nothing aside from an interest in guns and revenge is indeed going to drive him away, and her brash attitude only accelerated that process, because his patience is thin for those kind of mares if you hadn't noticed with many of Skies' interactions with him.
I obviously get it's a dick move and won't get me rewards for it, only downsides in the short term, but it's not out of a desire to evade the changie in a metagaming move, rather to make her think 'Hey, why did the stallion that I got so enamored moments ago decide to bail out on me? I thought I had him in the frog of my hoof. How did he suddenly have the desire to leave me?' and reflect on her actions. Of course, this obviously opens up the possibility of betrayal out of anger, but maybe, just maybe, she can realize that all his headcocking, staring and suspicion Iron sent out can make her realize some of her actions were counteracting her attempts to maintain him charmed.
And no. I'm not expecting to get kirin coochie either. Of course not. Iron may aim for that, but he knows it'll take a lot longer than a romp destroying her captors to consider him a viable candidate. Heck, for all he knows, she could be another gunloving, revenge fueled mare with the same brash attitude like Sands and would dump her as well.
Now you'll be asking "What? Why didn't he communicate that to Sands from the start? I bet this is all an excuse." and sure, between two adults that could be a viable option, but consider the fact that Iron is not going out of his way to pursue and change a mare unless she actually has something of value worthy of pursuit, and he doesn't care about revenge-fueled mares or gun skills or even combat magic if he ever gets to know about that because he sees himself as the muscle, concluding that while it would be a bonus in a mare, it can't be her only trait because Iron has that part covered as pretentious as that sounds. Besides, she wouldn't change her ways by simply pointing it out. Obviously it's deeper than that. It's an intrinsic part of her that defines her as a different pony among the masses caused by both dealing with a totalitarian indoctrination of changeling superiority and getting abused by outsiders.
Don't fret, because there is still a chance to charm Iron again, but Sands is probably going to swallow her pride to do it, which I don't see her do for a literal stranger anyhow, unless she still saw him as an easy target.
To summarize, yes, I know it is a dick move but it's not to avoid the changeling in a bout of 'player brilliance in avoiding danger' but rather to spark doubt in Sands' mind over what made him discard her. Obviously she can recharm him again through a simple apology and a change in attitude and approach but if that can't be achieved, he probably lost interest in her. I know it sounds pretentious, but Iron is a pretentious pony that seeks a specific number of traits in a mare to be deemed pursueable, and if that can't be achieved, he discards it and keeps going. After all, there are plenty of fish in the sea to hook up with.
And no. It's not the smoking. Smoking, while it could make him uncomfortable with the smell, it's not a dealbreaker, even though it is for me IRL.

>>117162
There is some enthusiasm in his voice when he says
“Okay, so what is the first thing I am doing with my new friends?”

>>117161
She giggles at Midnight’s efforts
“Again, I thank you. I am not recovered, but I am better than I was before”

>>117163
There is no “doubt over what caused whatever” just you and Iron being an asshole, and that is that

>>117164
"Well, that is all I can ask for for now. Say, is there anything that you can tell about this place that could help us? I understand if you cannot, but if you have any information..."

>>117166
Her expression becomes blank, and the smile fades away
“I don’t... I don’t think I have much I can tell you. I know I was kept chained to a desk in a big room with other features. I was made to sew leather to iron horseshoes. They took me here, and placed me next to a caged Rashaka, and that was all I could remember”

>>117165
Here I am, proposing a possibility to return to status quo with one little tweak, yet you shrug it off because you believe Iron and I are 'assholes' due to my decision as a player to stop interacting with Sands out of a desire not to after not giving me a reason to aside from 'I give you a snuggle so you better love me' and nothing else. If you want to destroy Iron's life over not falling for the character you presented due to lack of interest in her characteristics that make her, you can obviously do it.

>>117167
If Meadows could see Midnight's face, she would see her face go blank and then contorts into anger. She then steps forward and presses her snoot into the larger horse's shoulder.
"I... I will make sure that whatever did this to you pays... I am sorry about making you think about that, now just rest. Nothing will harm you now."

>>117168
I’m not in the right emotional state to sift through an entire block of text right now. My normal patience is gone. What is the tweak?

>>117169
The shoulder is also bony, but there is some muscle here.

Now, Meadows comes over, and hugs Midnight. Her legs are long and kind of bony. She places her long muzzle overtop of Midnight’s fur
“Thank you”
She’s sniffling

>>117164
"Well, we could take you out to eat,Do you like Whiskey? i know a Great Bar on the East-side of baltimare."

>>117171
“Yes! I haven’t been to a bar in that many occasions. I think I’ve only stayed to drink at one maybe twice. I didn’t know they could have food there”

>>117170
She hugs her back, wrapping her wings around her.
"Of course... I just pray I really can help you"
Midnight is sniffling as well.

>>117170
Simple. Make Sands realize what is ticking Iron off and promptly using it to her advantage by falsely apologizing over it and downplaying her abrasive in Iron's eyes temperament with more active actions of physical contact to make it up to him, or even presenting a hobby of hers that isn't about combat.
It should allow to buy you some more time to flesh her out further as a pony alongside Iron, and I believe she would be able to since she seems like the kind of pony to be able to do that, being a manipulator and all.

>>117172
"Some do. i'm not sure if mr.glass sells any at the eastside though. theres this one restaurant named "Benito's" that i think you might enjoy."

>>117174
No one in that situation would realize what is ticking Iron off

>>117175
He nods, but then lowers his head, looks away, and says almost restfully
“But I have to eat meat...”

>>117173
She presses her muzzle down and towards her
“You’re so kind. I was afraid I would find no kindness in this supposed land of friendship. But I see it is real. Thank you again”

>>117177
"I am glad that I have been able to do that for you, and I hope you can find more ponies that treat you with the same kindness."
Midnight is sniffling a bit more now, and her eyes are very watery as she raises a hoof and boops Meadows on the snoot.

>>117176
"I believe they sell spaghetti."

>>117176
Iron was indirectly pointing out his perception of her flaws with his expressions, which mostly encompasses her combat-focused demeanor from the eyebrow raising at her thirst for vengeance at first, which while obviously being justifiable in the current situation, it isn't particularly interesting to him long term. Compound that with a lack of other quirks to balance it out and a 'sassy' demeanor, like when she taunts Iron to 'not to be a bitch', and he loses interest quickly.
Remember. Iron likes Cauldron as a zebra and wants to be with her not because she beats ponies with a crowbar or is the hottest mare or sucks his metaphorical dick everytime she gets a chance, but her other skills, like cooking and potion making, and motivations to both better her life without sacrificng her fathers', not to mention her caring, generous and sometimes innocently fun attitude.
Sands is a changeling version of Skies in a superficial level as of now: Revenge-focused mare that wants to make their captors pay as well as being playfully abrasive, thinking it's a good way to interact with others because it worked previously from where she comes from.
I'm not expecting a Cauldron clone, don't get me wrong, but she should have something more interesting than simply being a nuzzling machine or a petting toy to charm Iron further, and her attitude towards others only serve to undermine her efforts.

>>117178
The pony is hugged. But when the hard object touches her soft, grey nose, she reflexively pulls back, wrestling her self out from under the wing. Stepping back, stepping back, stepping back away from her attacker. She goes back a couple more feet until...

Her right, rear hoof steps on an open cigar box, sending the wooden edge of the other side of the box into her long pattern bone, and launching cigars across the floor. She stumbles, her right hind leg collapses, then her left hind leg, and she falls down onto her rump

>>117179
He twists his mouth, and something about his expression implies he’s not convinced that spaghetti is a meat dish
“I’m not sure if I’ve ever had spaghetti before”

>>117180
You want a fleshed out character with whatever quirks and a distinct personality, you have to interact with them and give them situations to react to and bounce off of. You throw away characters I spend a large amount of time building and that I personally like, just because “eh, I don’t like this one” - and you did exactly the same thing to Black Cauldron last December and it pissed me way the fuck off then - then I’m not exactly inclined to do anything other than blow off your character in reciprocity. You don’t have to fuck it, just not discard blatantly and casually
\r

>>117181
I did try to approach her with questions regarding her past in an attempt to open her up into a more fleshed out character, but none of it worked because she's paranoid of revealing her nature as a changeling, so she can't be approached unless I do the flashlight trick on her which is metagame-y currently or otherwise have Iron know she's a changeling and she knows he knows but doesn't care, unlike Cauldron, which wasn't due to a lack of cooperation or actual way to explore her personality, history or hobbies.
There has to be an incentive to interact with other characters, GM. She provides none, so of course Iron'll stop caring about her sooner or later unless she gives a bone to chew on.

>>117181
I... Feel terrible now.
"Oh my Celestia I am so sorry!"
She rushes over and gently strokes her back, looking over her for any injuries like cuts or scrapes.
"I am sorry, I am sorry, are you okay? Oh Celestia I was not, thinking, I am so sorry!"

>>117181
"Spaghetti is a pasta based dish that comes with meat chunks in it. it a Delicious meal i believe it originates in wingbardy."
He whispers the last part about it being tasty

>>117183
Her face reveals that she is shaken and frightened as she sits down
“I am... I am... I don’t know. My leg hurts just a little. I am fine though”

>>117184
Jubilosa (in the hall opposite the door, with a line of sight to all of the character scenes)
“I heard that! You can’t take it back!”

Mala nods, looking a little more pleased
“Okay, I guess I can try that”

>>117185
"J-just rest and I will look over you."
Midnight quietly looks over her leg, looking sad at herself.
Heal check to look for any problems.
[1d20+6 = 25]

>>117185
Dark Star squints at her
"Whats your story?"
He asks her

>>117186
The only injury of any kind is on her right hind leg, caused by the wooden side of the box jabbing upwards into Meadow’s leg on the mid pattern bone, when she stepped on the opposite side of the box sending that side up in a seesaw action kind of like stepping on a rake. It’s a blunt injury, far from the worst Midnight has seen, but it seems to cause her pain. Nothing is broken or fractured, but there will probably be a bruise hidden under her leg fur.

>>117187
“What is my story? Heh, I am pleased you asked. My name is Volador Jubilosa, and I am from the Federated Parishes of Sicameon. Excuse me, I forgot the new name. “Territory of the Military Commander in Sicameon.” I grew up in Campo Claro, a little town twenty kilometers outside of Midora, and I attended the Parish School there. There was a griffin there who fancied me. A nice griffin, seemed to be heading to university. I wasn’t betrothed to him, but that seemed to be where things were going. Then you ponies attacked. His militia was mobilized, and I did not hear from him. I was heart broken, and remained in my parents’ house for a month when I found out he had been killed. Still, I persisted, and became a milkgrif, flying around delivering milk in my town. I knew I could make more money if I went to the city, so I did so. I became a typist for a shipping company in Midora. I worked there a year and a half.”

She’s been making gestures with a free claw through out her small speech, but it intensifies at this point, and she moves forward

“You know, there was this kid who lived just down the road from my parents. Then one day he just wasn’t there. I don’t know if he moved suddenly without telling his neighbors, if he joined the partisans out in the forests up north. But I think your secret police got him. Took him from his house in the night. Maybe stalked him as he walked home from the sugar mill where he worked. He wouldn’t have been the only one. Your damned soldiers walked the streets of the city. Redirected shipments going out. Frankly that’s a lot of what I did as a typist. Went over documents about exports, I didn’t like what I saw. I talked about what I saw. And when my parents wrote me and told me about little Mullido down the street just vanishing, I knew that it could happen to me.

So I went back to Campo Claro, and told my parents I would seek refuge in Aquelia until the end of the War. Then I went down to the city to locate a griffin I was told made fake passports. I should have trusted a different griffin. I would have used a ship my company contracts for, except they don’t run to Aquelia. And so, somehow, I ended up here. Tonight.”

>>117188
Dark Star Remains stoic for her story.
"Interesting. Why do you think the Secret Police were involved?""

>>117189
“They do not want an independent Sicameon, and they supposed little Mullino was in the way”

>>117190
"Sounds to me like he ran away from home."

>>117191
“He was an adult, no need to run away. He didn’t hate his situation there. He would have told his mother”

>>117192
Dark Star remains unconvinced

>>117193
She rolls her head, closes her eyes, raises her eyebrows and does a sort of shrug
“I never said you’d care, I just said what happened”

>>117194
"I Care,in a way."
He turns to silver and iron and asks
"Are we ready to head upstairs?"

>>117195

>>117196
She remarks
“Probably joyful”
In an offhoof comment

>>117196
Iron simply nods.

>>117196
Silver nods.

>>117182
Plot twist: there has to be an incentive for the GM to waste his time interacting with the character.

I have no idea why you think that having your character treat well established female NPCs as if they are articles of clothing that can be stolen and then discarded when you don’t like how they fit, is acceptable, but I assure you that it is not acceptable.

>>117198
I refuse to acknowledge anything happening with the Iron character after >>117142. You can have a reset of any of the scenes leading up to that to see if you want to do anything differently. You can roll a new character who will join the quest later. You can wait in limbo to see if I change my mind later. But what is not happening is trying on my favorite new female NPC like a shoplifted article of clothing and throwing her in the garbage when she makes you look fat, and then proceeding on to combat tonight.

>>117188
Far from the worst yes, but this one hurts Midnight too cause she knows her carelessness caused it.

She gently and slowly strokes Meadows' mane, hoping to calm her down after that.

>>117201
She shakes for a moment, but she is calmed down. The hair is long and was arranged in some sort of pattern, but had since been undone. It too, has remnants of a goo remaining in it, messing it up.

“You know what I am glad about?

I can feel things now. When I was suspended in that goo... when I was awake at first... I couldn’t touch anything, except the walls”

>>117202
"That is good to hear. Even of what you feel is pain, it still means your condition is improving, and it means you will get better..."
Midnight wishes she had some type of brush or comb to do the mare's mane, but alas.

>>117204
Hey. Not sure where Spark is, but since Onyx is here you guys could start up one the next day of your journey.

>>117206
>>117205
>>117204
North gang gang time?