1831 replies and 24 files omitted.
>>125408Sense Motive to figure out their feelings and truthfulness!
[1d20+2 = 17]<Sense Motive! >>125406"Yeah yeah, what's going on? Are you with the Waterfront Gang?"
"
Marefriend?! Do I look like any damn mare. I could take your concept of a marefriend and rip her to pieces!"
>>125409The female seems to be very much forthright in her expression of her opinion that she could rip a pony to pieces. She also seems to be generally in a bad mood.
The male is a bit fuzzier. He seems afraid, very much wants to get out of there, and does not seem to have any immediate motive to harm Iron. However, he doesn't look like he could restrain the female, nor does he seem entirely willing.
It's a strange case of reverse sexual di-morphism. She's bigger and more muscular than he is
\r
>>125411>>125410Iron hums softly, looking rather confused at the sight of more powerfully built females than males before shrugging and looking at whatever is holding these gnolls inside the cage.
>>125412The gnolls themselves are fairly injured, showing signs of cutting flesh wounds in he female, and a bullet wound in the male, as well as bleeding from evident bite marks on all four legs on both subjects. There is broken and chewed up rope on the floor. The cage itself seems to have a lock to it
>>125413Motioning Sands back and to brandish a weapon just in case, Iron prepares his head-crushing thighs in anticipation for the ensuing lock breaking.
"Alright, you can lead us to the exit and you can go scot free afterwards to do your own thing," he comments in preparation.
>>125415Iron looks at Sands expectantly, wondering what she'd want to say first before doing it.
>>125416She comes up close to him, and whispers with irritation into his ear
Why are you helping them? These guys are assholes. >>125417Iron raises an eyebrow, wondering what else she has to say.
>>125419This sours Iron's expression quite a lot, as he was previously considering they were little less than scared and confused guards stuck inside the cage, eager to get this behind them.
"Is that so..." Iron mutters in dismay before shaking his head and relaxing his muscles, looking at the two gnolls in the cage for a good five seconds before starting to walk away from the two, not wanting to do anything with them.
>>125420The female shouts to him
"Hey! You from the gang! The police will be looking for you too. I know they will. That's why you are looking to sneak out back instead of walking through the street"
>>125421Iron simply chuckles before looking back at her.
"I have friends in high places," he informs the hyena "so whatever snitching you may try will yield you nothing but disappointment, big mare."
His face turns dark, as he raises a foreleg.
"and your demise, as well, if you try."
[1d20+9 = 19]<Intimidate >>125422>>125423Perhaps if Iron had met her under different circumstances, her inner will would have won out. But as it is, she is stabbed, cut, only recently out of ties, locked in a cage, and she sees enemies coming from a direction from which she should expect friendly reinforcements.
As such, she folds, remaining silent and standing there. But her ears fall down
>>125424Hearing no retort from the hyena makes his lower his foreleg as he beckons Sands with his head, moving further into the corridor and leaving the two gnolls behind.
>>125425Male:
"Come on! Don't leave us here! We can make it worth your while! Listen! I know the location of a wreck!..."
It's a bit harder to hear down the corridor as Iron goes into a stairwell tunnel that looks more like those catacombs under the vacant lot where the zombies were, than it looks like the rest of the building. Down at the bottom, is a particularly black room
>>125426(Only option is down...) he thinks to himself as he follows the directions towards the particularly dark room, looking at Sands to maybe see if she had magic sticks or light.
>>125427"Let me light something..."
She takes a piece of the robe she is wearing, places it on the ground, places another piece in her teeth, and tugs, ripping a sleeve right off. She holds it in air with magic, pulls out a lighter from a belt pocket, and..
"click" lights it on fire
"The light won't last long"
Iron can see a room, not very large with high, arched ceiling, made of white stone. Most of it is water, with a ledge wide enough for two ponies. There is a small row boat, white with a red strip on the top of the side, up beside the ledge like it is a pier, with a rope lazily placed around a stake. At the end of the room is a circular tunnel with no lighting, with water at the bottom, and ig enough for the boat to travel through. The water doesn't look very deep, but it's almost opaque
>>125428Humming softly, Iron presuposes that they could either leave right now through the boat
or travel the tunnels and maybe find a marehole to get out of the potential sewer system.
He relays his thought process to Sands, wondering what she'd think would work best.
>>125429"There's only one way out" she says
>>125430"The floating wood thing there?" Iron asks
>>125431"No. Through the tunnel. Either way. Either that, or it's back upstairs"
>>125432Nodding, he starts the trek through the tunnel, letting Sands lead on.
>>125433Sands looks down into the opaque, muddy looking water of unknown depth that stretches between the edge of the dry area and the beginning of the tunnel, which itself is partly submerged in the same water.
"I think it's only appropriate that you go first on this, big stallion"
>>125434Bonds can't help but look at the water in mild worry as he glances back at Sands. "Can you even hold what I have on me?" he asks as he starts to put down the suitcase and belt with both bindle and pouch still attached somewhat.
>>125435She looks at him with a curious expression
"I don't... know. Why do you ask?"
>>125436"Just in case," Iron responds before sinking his right hoof into the water.
>>125437Iron plops down and "splash" the front of his muzzle goes into the water, and the top of his face is splashed and wet. But when Iron rights himself he finds that he can rather easily keep his head above water - infact, much of his head didn't get wet in the first place. Once he gets into the water, no longer angled down into it by his hind legs being on a higher platform, he finds it's two feet deep if even that. Iron can keep his barrel above water.
>>125438To ensure nothing funny was going to happen, Iron goes on a little trip to the beginning of the tunnel and back, reassuring Sands he'll come back as he does it, as well as asking her to keep her guard up.
>>125439She winces
“The Fire is about to die....”
Iron can feel things under the water. Sometimes it is sand, sometimes it is decaying plant matter, and once he feels something press against him and dart, like a fish. Once or twice he feels something harder and sharper, like some artificial object
But iron makes his way forward. The water in the room is perhaps two feet, and the tunnel is no deeper, perhaps even a little higher. At the end, he can see a hold through where there were bars, and an opening to what looks like the harbor bay. Moonlight sleeps through the end, maybe 40 meters away
>>125440Having done his thing, Iron decides to pick up the stuff once more and beckons Sands forwards, muffled talk about light up ahead.
>>125441As he does so, the light dies, and it goes black
>>125442Unafraid, Iron trods forth in search of the moonlight at the end of the tunnel.
>>125443But before that, he hoofs over a towel for her to use as fuel for her flame trick.
>>125444>>125443Sands takes a towel, and lights it up, trying to hold it in magic aura to prevent it from burning her
For that matter, she uses a towel, rather than a robe, to make the initial fire
>>125445Nodding, Iron trudges onwards towards the light he'd seen before with all the baggage on him.
>>125445>>125446Iron goes forward, down the tunnel, and to the entrance, where it exits out into Horseshoe Bay. To the right he can see the lights of Locust point and the passenger terminal there, as well as the lights of so many piers, houses and factories. Beyond that are the more scattered lights of the Southern shore, and its dark forests. To the left he can see the outline of the peninsula, with so many houses along the shore, the hills and houses above that, and at the very end, protruding into the bay, the lighthouse. In the bay are a pair of ships, probably freighters, and the lights of a few pleasure craft.
But what would interest him most is the boat that is just off shore, maybe a thousand feet if that. A vessel perhaps 90 feet in length, that looks almost military, with green stripes. It has a light, which it is shining forward, presumably over at the buildings of Hoebuck
Beneath Iron, there are some rocks before it becomes dee
>>125447Making sure to tell Sands to extinguish the flame, Iron softly retreats back into the drain, watching the boat while hidden in the darkness for any movements on the magic light or any ponies jumping out of it.
>>125448It's moving forward at snail's pace. there are indeed ponies on deck, Pegasi. They are ooking back over at Hoebuck
>>125449Iron hums softly as he sees it move before picking up a rock from below him and flinging it towards the water away from the drain and into the sea to see their reaction.
>>125450It looks like one of them looks down at he splash, and remains looking, before turning away after seeing nothing
>>125451Iron hums softly as he aims at the light itself with another rock after taking out and placing his baggage to the edge of the drain, as far away from any potential light soruces and water as possible, bucking the rock.
>>125452He's attacking the search light on the ship?
>>125453Pfft. No. He's just 'convincing' it to shut off or look away for a bit.
>>125454If he's going to try to destroy a search light on the deck of a patrol vessel, he's going to need to do an attack roll with some severe range penalty
>>125455Alright.
I'll do a roll with normal mod, then you decide the negative mod.
[1d20+10 = 18]<Ranged Attack Mod >>125456Miss. The rock lands pretty the ship, hitting the side, and bouncing off with a big "thunk"
There is yelling on the ship, and some pegasi reach for rifles and what appear to be submachine guns
>>125457Iron proceeds to become as small as possible, looking at what they'll do, beckoning Sands to keep quiet and hide as well.
>>125458"Possible Sniper! Check the rooftops! Guns at the ready!"
A few of them get closer down on the ship, one of them mans a very, very large gun that is bolted down to the ship, and the light is moved to focus on what seem to be buildings to the left/North. All of them stand at more ready positions, clutching rifles, carbines, and submachine guns
>>125459Iron looks back to Sands, whispering to her.
"What does that mean?" >>125461"Oh," Iron lets out
"They will probably calm down if they do not find anyone to sting, then."With that, Iron keeps his gaze on the boat, wondering what they'll do now.
>>125462It does seem to calm down after the passage of perhaps a minute with no further loud sounds. They start to stand up from their positions in cover. Though the light maintains an interest on the high points, it drifts down on a few occasions lower, though not yet as low as the waterline or seawall
>>125463Seeing their new patrol pattern makes Iron a bit more hopeful that they could slink on through the guards' gaze.
Donning on the equipment once more, he looks at the potential paths at his dispostal from the storm drain.
>>125464Iron can see a few, although admittedly only a few. The water before him becomes deep quickly, perhaps six or seven feet, and eventually dropping off further. To the right are some rocks that lead up to the land. To the left is an open walkway next to a seawall.
Further over, to the left, a few hundred meters away, is a small pier and a very small yacht. To the right, further away, is what looks like a factory that comes closer to the water, with a smaller concrete pier up against the water, and a narrower stretch of grass between the building and the seawall
>>125465Iron fixes his gaze, pointing Sands towards it, before glancing back at the boat, wondering if it's going the opposite direction.
>>125466They are sort of going the same direction, although the boat is basically holding position. She looks concerned
>>125467Humming softly, he ponders on how to divert their course, turning to Sands.
"Any ideas to drive away the boat?" >>125469Sensing this'll mean the boat will essentially stay there until he manages to feign an actual sniper shot on the other side of the factory, he shakes his head before licking his lips, measuring the distance to jump.
He looks at Sands, wondering if she'd have objections to this course of action.
>>125475Hearing Sands' words, Iron them proceeds to aim his body to the left of him.
"Alright, I will trust your advice," he responds, looking at the different trajectory he could take.
>>125476It’s basically a concrete pathway between the water and the seawall. It doesn’t extend all the way to the neighboring property - there are more rocks - but it goes a significant proportion of that distance. The most disturbing thing is that it is completely exposed with no cover unless iron changes his mind about not wanting to get wet. At least the grey seawall isn’t really that different in color from iron’s coat, of Sand’s snow white
>>125477After looking at it for a bit, Iron decides to nod and turns to Sands.
"We will go that way, then," he concludes before hopping down to the leftmost pathway.
>>125478There is no stealth on that path. The one and in it way to remain undetected is to hope that nopony happens to catch them moving out of the corner of their eye, and look directly at them. At least the small waves and action of the water cover sounds
>>125479Breathing softly, Iron slowly walks the path with the baggage on him in the hopes of finally getting out of the police's gaze, into Cauldron's hooves and treated enough for him to rest up and be fine the next day.
>>125478>>125479“I’m... not going to risk it.”
She throws off her robe onto the ground, appearing almost naked besides a tie and the belt, carrying the rifles. She looks into the water, dips a hoof in
“If it weren’t for customs... there’s no way I’d ever get in water that cold.”
She moves more of her for legs, then more, then all four hooves are submerged. She goes in a little more and... slips into her side, falling into the water, thankfully without too much of a splash.”
“Gahuhuhhuh!”
Her head pops up, then she places it back down closer to the water”
“I’ll... I’ll swim alongside you”
>>125483Hmmm.... he could traverse at least the second half.
Roll another
>>125485The sound of talking, and the light is definitely being lowered
>>125486Iron, afraid of being spotted, decides to slink downwards into the water to avoid being spotted.
>>125487Iron dives into the water, two feet at a time to reduce the splash.
Iron doesn’t entirely understand what Sands was complaining about, as the water is well above freezing. Still, it is very cold, at least as much as the water from the lake in his dream, and colder than all but the high mountain streams. It’s terrible color, being brown and opaque, not much visible past the first foot, and the silt-filled water has a disgusting smell of salt, dead plant matter, and a hint of petrol. Iron down few through what seems to be Sand’s tail. She has dived her head down
>>125488Breathing in deeply, Iron sinks his head just like Sands, waiting for that damn light to go away.
>>125260Brie thinks for a moment. "Danke Fultoni. Sie waren außerordentlich hilfreich. Eine letzte Frage. Mit Lang und ... habe ich schon seinen Namen vergessen, mit ihnen tot, wer befehligt den Gendarm?"
>>125489Iron pulls down the briefcase under the water, and possibly his bathrobes bag as well
>>125490“Das sollte sein ... Drohne zweihundert siebenundachtzig von Yaria und Lepitus, auch bekannt als Macrurus. Er sollte die Polizeistation sein.“
>>125491Iron also stops his movement until that blasted light goes away.
>>125494Iron pulls himself down, under the water as the light shines above. It sorts of hurts to keep his eyes open in the water, but necessary. Iron likewise pulls the bag down, under the water. He can feel movement, she the hair in his face pulls away. Sands is swimming forward
>>125495Seeing Sands go onwards makes Iron feel like he should, too, thinking the guards somehow saw him right there. Ergo he follows her.
>>125498He moves forward some distance hard to tell how far
>>125498There is no light lighting up the water above Iron
>>125501>>125500>>125499Iron slowly but surely peeks his eyes out to survey the situation.
>>125502There is a light nearby in the water. He can’t tell what Sands is doing, but he thinks he sees her horn for a moment
>>125503He continues to swim with his eyes over the water, being sure to keep an eye out at light as he navigates along the concrete pathway in the water.
>>125504The light starts to move down
>>125505Iron sinks his head back down inside the water slowly, just in case, swimming along the concrete pathway still.
>>125506Iron is nearing what would be the end of the seawall. It’s still some ways to go before they get to the yacht and the pier. Sands seems to mostly stay underwater, though her horn pokes out of the water often. Once, she is seen sticking her muzzle up, and breathing. The bag and the briefcase are more than a bit of hinderance, popping up out of the water with Iron
Roll more se