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Occupied Equestria - Confrontation
Anonymous
vWLK1
?
No.123038
123091
Along the shores of Baltimare Harbor, in the halls of old 33 Hoebuck, our heroes have discovered a dark secret. What started as a mundane mission to stop illegal immigrant smuggling has uncovered something far more horrific - a cult from Griffonia. The party has successfully challenged and defeated many of the cultists and hired criminals, but in the process, has nearly died themselves. Now, low on health, they must both recover and put an end to the evils in 33 Hoebuck once and for all - before it puts an end to them first.

Way up north, in the Iron Range of Whinnysota, the ponies their inquire into exact who or what is damaging so many machines. Investigating and following leads, they may unveil the faults and problems of the Haysabi Iron Mine, and gain favor with Changeling authorities.

Damn it, I missed 123,000
1760 replies and 24 files omitted.
Anonymous
aCXC3
?
No.124889
124892
>>124882
Midnight tries again on Jubilosa, trying not to suck this time
[1d20+10 = 30]

Anonymous
MiEoE
?
No.124890
124891
>>124888
The number clearly indicating a request for clemency increases

But two of them - both griffins - try to fly away, towards the back of the room
Silver "The Floof" Sword
aZTOK
?
No.124891
124892 124893
>>124890
Silver motions for the rifles to be aimed at the two griffons-and only the two griffons-who are trying to escape, and fire.

"THREE!"
MiEoE
?
No.124892
124893
[1d20+3 = 4]
[3d20+5 = 46]
>>124889
This is a remarkably effort. Where as before she agitated burns and twister s claw, now she applies calming lotion, covers burns, and delicately bandages burned areas

>>124891
Though Khoi, Jubilosa and White Sands lack military or law enforcement training, Johann, Blue Skies and Undertoe fair better with their guns, and they, along wit White Sands, shoot at the fleeing cultists.

Bang Bang Crack Crack

There is another one, a pony being roudy, as well as a zebra, though they don’t quite flee, surrender, or fight
Anonymous
MiEoE
?
No.124893
124894
>>124892
>>124891
White Sand’s rifle jams, but three bullets hit the two griffins, causing one to fall like a hand bird, and the other to limp and fall
Silver "The Floof" Sword
aZTOK
?
No.124894
124895
>>124893
Silver trots over to the fallen griffons, looking to see whether they're still alive.
Anonymous
MiEoE
?
No.124895
124896
>>124894
One is crawling away, the other is dead or likely to die
aZTOK
?
No.124896
124897
[1d20+8 = 22]
>>124895
Silver draws his sword on the crawling griffon, and strikes him down.
Anonymous
MiEoE
?
No.124897
124898
>>124896
Brutal

Silver slashes at her

“No! Get out of here po-“
Dark Star shoots and arguing Zebra
Silver "The Floof" Sword
aZTOK
?
No.124898
124899
>>124897
Silver looks back to the cultists.

"I trust we have all come to understanding, here."
Anonymous
MiEoE
?
No.124899
124900
>>124898
The one rowdy pony gets down on the ground, and they are prone with forehooves over their heads
Silver "The Floof" Sword
aZTOK
?
No.124900
124901 124903
>>124899
"Good."

Silver trots back towards the group.

"Blue, I need you to go get either police or some other authority here. If you can, we could also use ambulence here. We have wounded here, some who need attention now."

To emphasize that last point, he looks to the pony and deer that the cultists were originally going to sacrifice, still alive and sliced open.
Anonymous
aCXC3
?
No.124901
124902
>>124900
Midnight now rushes over to the sacrifices, praying to Luna that she can save them.
How many checks?
Anonymous
MiEoE
?
No.124902
124905
>>124901
As best as Midnight can tell, the procedure on the sacrifices is fairly simple. They are turned onto their backs, the hide over their bellies has been cut down the center and across, and a few ribs have been cut with blades. Finally a cover over internal organs has been moved aside, allowing the still moving lungs and beating heat of the creatures to show, along with the stomach and massive intestines of the pony, and the massive stomach of the deer. It looks like exposing the heart was the priority of the operation, given how the upper barrel is cut open more than the lower. There is significant bleeding, though some measure has been taken to reduce the blood loss as both creatures are still conscious. The pony stallion cries and this s through a gag. The stag bites his teeth and grimaces, but no effort was taken to gag him. Neither seem to have any kind of aesthetic. Both seem vulnerable to going into shock from blood loss

Midnight may want to try several things here
Anonymous
MiEoE
?
No.124903
124904
>>124900
Blue Skies nods, then flies down
“I hope they don’t shoot me”

Johann comes up to Silver, and looks over at the sacrifices, then to the cultists
Silver "The Floof" Sword
aZTOK
?
No.124904
124906
>>124903
Silver looks to resident cultist hunter.

"I assume you've seen things such as this, before?"
Anonymous
aCXC3
?
No.124905
124906
>>124902
gulp
[1d20+10 = 25]

[1d20+10 = 11]

Anonymous
MiEoE
?
No.124906
124907 124909
>>124905
Efforts to close the rib cages of the stallion is.., mostly successful, but complicated for the stag

>>124904
“Perhaps not exactly, but they like to keep their victims alive until the end of a prolonged ceremony”
Anonymous
aCXC3
?
No.124907
124908
>>124906
Eeeeeeek, try again on the stag
[1d20+10 = 24]

Anonymous
MiEoE
?
No.124908
124910
>>124907
More successful. It’s closed. Now, to try to reattach bone....

These creatures could use some morphine and plasma
Silver "The Floof" Sword
aZTOK
?
No.124909
124914
>>124906
"I hope we can get them to safety. They do not deserve this. No one does."

He looks back to the cultists.

"As far as operation, goes, has what they have done here been more or less standard?"
Anonymous
aCXC3
?
No.124910
124911
>>124908
Midnight looks around frantically
"Where are the drugs?"
Anonymous
MiEoE
?
No.124911
124912
>>124910
Khoi comes forward with morphine and plasma, as well as some antibiotics and surgical tools
Anonymous
aCXC3
?
No.124912
124913
>>124911
"Thank you"
Midnight sets to work, injecting and practicing her sewing.
[1d20+12 = 24]
Pone
[1d20+12 = 15]
Deer
Anonymous
0D1xb
?
No.124913
124915
>>124912
Again, she’s more successful with the stallion.... but not a great job with the deer
vWLK1
?
No.124914
124924
1563480.png
>>124909
"I don't know about no one..."

Then he looks directly at Silver, and uses his claw to readjust his glasses
"It's hard to say exactly what is 'standard' Maarite practice. Who is being sacrificed by whom, and how, varies depending on local circumstance. Most sects that have sacrifices - usually not sentient - have the priest carry out the ritual, or a single individual. Maarites like to have everygriff participate. They are rather egalitarian in that way. I think you've noticed the wavy knives that they carry around. Those are Kris daggers, a ritual dagger that all Maarites are required to carry around, and that they use in the ritual. Of course because of the risk of being caught with them they really only carry them during rituals, but it's part of their identity.

The most common sacrifice is the collective sacrifice. Each cultist takes his dagger, comes forward, and stabs into the creature offered for sacrifice in succession, with the offered creature dying at the end of the ritual from blood loss, internal bleeding, or shock. There's a reason they do this, a pragmatic, psychological reason. If a priest does the killing, then a cultist may become revolted, or feel guilty, and back out, telling the authorities. Or there might be an infiltrator at the ritual. But with everygriff taking part in the killing, and the death being the direct cause of no single griffin - everygriff at once feels guilty for participating in the act, and place the blame on the other participants. In this way, they are all bound together by the sacrifice, having equally transgressed the laws of Griffin and the laws of Boreas.

You can also see that they like to keep their sacrifices alive as long as possible, even if they are injured. Now the rumor is that 'Maar likes as much suffering as possible,' but the simpler reason is that it's hard to make everyone participate in the sacrifice if the offering dies halfway through. The ones after the first half can feel absolved of the sin and crime, and may go tell authorities. The priests don't want that.

Another common practice is the initiation rite, where, to become a full member, an initiate must kill a sacrifice. This serves a similar purpose to the collective sacrifice, because any cultist who does it will know themselves to be damned and removed from society, bound eternally to Maar and his representatives. There is no going back, and the new initiate will be loyal thereafter. This method is less common, because it requires so many more sacrifices, which are hard to come by. It's also less common because its harder for most griffins to take the decisive step of killing another sentient creature. Most creatures are averse to that sort of act, at least at first. And if an initiate chooses not to do the ritual after having progressed so far, it places both the initiate and the cultists in a very awkward position. Still, becoming a priest generally requires such an initiation, and some congregations will have gradations of members, where a member must kill to advance.

Where the cultists do not have to worry about authorities, such as when they take control of a region, they become more hierarchical, with priests conducting the ritual. And where they are unable to find sentient creatures to sacrifice, they will use animals.

It's hard to say what was going on here, but it looks like some combination of the three. The two creatures standing prominently by the altars were likely initiatives. My guess is that the members were to come forward and each make a stab into the lungs, stomach, or livers of the offerings, and then the initiates would make the decisive stab into the heart. Or maybe the initiates alone would make the sacrifice, I cannot say. They too the effort to cut their victims open. That's probably not just to make it easier for inexperienced cultists and initiates see where the hearts are on unfamiliar creatures. They probably intended to remove the heart at some point, most likely by the priest.

This particular congregation of Maarites seemed to have a very steady supply of untraceable victims. That is something that is rare."
\r
Anonymous
aCXC3
?
No.124915
124918
>>124913
Alright, I better heal this damn deer
[1d20+10 = 11]

vWLK1
?
No.124917
[1d100 = 64]

Anonymous
vWLK1
?
No.124918
124919
>>124915
You know he the Hippocratic oath includes the words “to help, or at least, to do no harm”? Midnight isn’t doing very well at that right now
Anonymous
aCXC3
?
No.124919
124920 124925
>>124918
She's doing her best!
[1d20+10 = 12]

vWLK1
?
No.124920
124922
[1d20+1 = 12]
[1d20+2 = 5]
>>124919
She.... didn’t stab his lungs this time... at least
Anonymous
aCXC3
?
No.124922
124925
>>124920
AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHH
[1d20+10 = 29]

Anonymous
n99TA
?
No.124923
124925
Unobtrusively and in a manner not intended to detract from whatever may be going on in other areas of the world, Brie looks at the current situation, cursing himself for thinking this would be a simple "cut someone's head off and present it to the Queen" sort of mission.
(I.e., Brie is taking a free action to quickly assess his options, probably taking flight, in lieu of Zuang (or whatever his name is) turning into,... that there that there)
Silver "The Floof" Sword
aZTOK
?
No.124924
124930
>>124914
Silver nods to the last part.

"Hearing stories of those we rescued, it is clear that their net is cast very wide. From here, to Sicameon, to Hippogriffia, to Karkadannistan, to Ngua Nam, and if sacrificial deer is any indication then Olenia as well."
Anonymous
vWLK1
?
No.124925
124927 124928 124929
>>124922
The Stag, laying their restrained but ungagged, had been remarkably silent under the circumstances. "Under the circumstances" is quite a different thing from completely silent, as he will regularly moan, or let out an "ahhh!" though he remains quieter than the bound stallion on the opposing altar. But when Midnight's scalpel slips, he lets out a definite scream of pain he cannot hold back. Jubilosa is successful in giving him some plasma through an IV, and Khoi gives him some morphine, perhaps too much morphine, which seems to put him unconscious, or at least, hopefully that, and not the blood loss is the reason why he falls unconscious.

But Midnight rectifies her error and stitches up the portions of organs damaged by her missteps. The cultists themselves had only damaged bone and hide. But now she has brought back into place a delicate covering, and with skill, has partly reattached several ribs.

It's coming along more smoothly now

>>124923
>>124919
Brie has last taken flight away from his encounter with Zu Lang, and is fortunate for all of the chaos, for there are few who recognize him as a threat. Around the forest and near the grinding mill, a 30 foot tall red eyed sharp-fanged owl bear with massive bat wings roars and stomps. Drie, the Lieutenant, has fallen into a seizure or some sort of shock, and one of his guards has moved to the ground to tend to him, leaving only one to face the owl bear. Another guard by the pit has his rifle focused on miners, for Zu Lang has given orders to beware pony opportunists or an insurgent plot, and he doesn't dare go against Zu Lang's orders. Another guard, for reasons unknown, seems to have fallen from his place on the edge of the mine down into the mine itself. The guards around Zu Lang, conflicted and confused, have taken flight to move back to a safe distance

And Zu Lang.... Zu Lang looks nothing like Zu Lang, or any Changeling for that matter. Long, lanky limbs like a walking stick, bare ribs and emaciated appearance, at least twice the size of a stallion, maybe more, and surely thrice or so the size of a drone. Pure, black eyes that absorb all light, and a white, leathery hide that looks night mummified. Red blood drips from his chest, and out his mouth, which still possess Zu Lang's tattle-tale feature, for one fang is near twice the length of the other.

tl;dr
Shit's fucked
Anonymous
n99TA
?
No.124926
124930
I would like to point out that Brie is still in Zu Lang costume, and the 'real' Zu Lang hasn't been determined.
What I mean is, the only ponies who could know that Brie is a fake are those who know WTF is up with Lang and haven't said anything. Anyone else would (presumably, depending on their intelligence check) be either disconcerted and bewildered or would likely assume Brie is real and WTFISTHAT is "something" that needs to die.
Anonymous
aCXC3
?
No.124927
124930
>>124925
Midnight:
She breaths a sigh of relief, finishing up her work on the pony and deer.
Onyx:
I'm assuming Onyx is still with the foals?
Shimmering Spark
3CXiY
?
No.124928
124930
>>124925
I'm going to assume Spark can't see this thing quite yet from where he detonated the explosives.
n99TA
?
No.124929
124930
[2d20+4 = 38]
>>124925
STICK HIS EYES! TAKING INITIATIVE, DOUBLE KNIVES TO THE FACE!
(attack roll)+3(dex)+1(masterwork)+?(BAB)

Anonymous
vWLK1
?
No.124930
124931 124932 124933 124934 124935
>>124924
He shakes his head
"I cannot say as much about how they source their victims. But I know the ones in that room with the high ceiling are Imperial subjects who must have migrated here"

Undertoe chimes in
"They bribe freighter captains to let creatures ride in their ships and get off. This Maakie, he is a smuggler, or trafficker. That's what he made his business in. Smuggling immigrants into Equestria. Some of them will pay a lot of money for it, and take a lot of risks. If they can't pay upfront, and most them can't, they will sell themselves as indentured servants. That's probably how this whole thing got started. Boek had a property ideally suited to keep indentured servants laboring away from the local crime syndicates and the police, and Maakie had a trafficking operation... then add in a crazy occultist landlord, and religious groups trying to flee persecution in Griffonia..."

Johann stares at her for that last part

>>124926
Yes. Brie can pass as Zu Lang, though imitating his voice is still difficult

Note that most of the changelings probably always believed Brie was a changeling, so they may connect things if they become suspicious

>>124927
Yes, or near the fighting. It's not far away, and he'd hear everything

Midnight could do another heal check at least

>>124928
He can if he turns around

>>124929
Well, both of those should hit
Shimmering Spark
3CXiY
?
No.124931
124935
>>124930
Well, he would turn around to head back to the pit. He starts at the... thing with his jaw wide open. He decides to make his way towards it, hopefully not spotted.
Silver "The Floof" Sword
aZTOK
?
No.124932
124935
>>124930
"That would make sense, as Maakie clearly is not interested in this particular part of what happened here. At least this part is over, or almost over."
Anonymous
aCXC3
?
No.124933
124935
>>124930
Onyx:
He listens carefully, before shooing the foals into the wagon and then setting off with his halberd.
Midnight:
[1d20+10 = 17]
Deer
[1d20+10 = 19]
Pony
n99TA
?
No.124934
124935
[2d4+2 = 6]
>>124930
WU TANG
Alright

Anonymous
vWLK1
?
No.124935
124936 124937 124941 124959
>>124931
This isn't entirely easy because of the lack of cover. Shimmer is out in the open. But he's not the only one out in the open

>>124932
Undertoe:
"He would attend. Or at least I though he would. He would stick around the rituals. Probably hoped the magic would give him status, or something"

>>124933
The pony's ribs are reattached... partly, and he is sewn up

He's not 'fine,' but he's significantly better. The Deer's ribs are reattached, but he needs his hide to be sewn back

>>124933
Onyx sees the scene described above >>124930

>>124934
The daggers land, and their's something like a gurgling roar, getting the attention of more of the Changelings.

Zu Lang tries to swipe at Brie with a very long, thin arm, but is out of range
Anonymous
n99TA
?
No.124936
124938
>>124935
Looking down, Brie can see he's got 1-2 daggers left.
"I don't suppose one of you lads has a light?" he calls out, somewhat offhand because he's not really addressing anypony.
If allowed an action, he'll gain more elevation. And he'll ready his short sword for another go.
Anonymous
aCXC3
?
No.124937
124938
>>124935
Midnight decides it's as good a time as any to practice her sewing.
[1d20+10 = 28]

Onyx on the other hand, gets a gleam in his eye as he realizes he gets to fight again
Anonymous
vWLK1
?
No.124938
124939
>>124937
Midnight's lack of knowledge of cervine anatomy has hurt her - or rather, him - but she's now making up for it. He is now sewn back together. He still needs more blood, and has something worse than broken ribs, but he's much better than he was before

>>124936
>>124937
The drones do not respond to Brie, or even seem to notice him. Brie may fly higher

Drie is becoming longer, browner, and even seems to be growing horns, as the Changeling next to him moves away

Onyx arrived is in the middle of the chaos, where few drones seem to be able to keep watch over everything happening
Anonymous
aCXC3
?
No.124939
124940
>>124938
Midnight thanks Luna that she didn't kill the deer.

Onyx looks antsy, like a foal waiting for recess. Can he enter the battle?
Anonymous
vWLK1
?
No.124940
124942
>>124939
If he picks a target, yes