Up in the North, the ponies have successfully found who, or rather, what was damaging the mine. But their quest is not over, as they go to look for the source of the trouble. In Baltimare, Iron, Silver, and Dark Star enjoy the fruits of defeating the cultists, while Midnight herds the remaining rescues.
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1803 replies and 49 files omitted.
>>128020Iron tilts his head. "The Overseas?" he asks, puzzlement clear on his face. "Who are they?"
>>128021Her ears go down near to her neck, and the smile disappears
"All you particularly need to know is they have seemingly endless resources, endless demand for medical supplies, and deal with them at a distance because they are the biggest sons a bitches out there. Contracts can be problematic... but damned if it isn't consistent. Now, the resistance. That's an option."
>>128022Iron nods softly, looking at the ground in thought. "...anything of note about this resistance?" he asks tentatively, slightly munching on his lower lip, calculating the amount of success and failure expected.
>>128023"They are several groups in one, not all of he police like them, and their resources vary"
>>128024"So a mix between guaranteed, dangerous profits or safer, fluctuating ones."
Iron scratches his chin softly. "You said the former's contracts can be problematic," he starts thoughtfully "What do you mean by that?"
>>128026"Wanting exclusivity and an appearance of legitimacy. They don't want to be 'off the book.' They want to be on the book and make sure no one else is."
>>128027"That indeed sounds problematic..." he muses, shaking his head "It seems the resistance is a good place to start the venture, albeit probably will be stuck with them for a while."
Iron then looks at Cauldron, starting up his question process once again. "What about the potions you are uncertain you can do?"
>>128028"Well, there are very many potions out there. Hair-growth is one. Certain plant growth potions are another. Strength and endurance potions are still other options."
>>128030Nodding softly, Iron visibly raises her ears at the variety of pony changing potions, tilting his head. "...I believe the last set should be the most applicable to the most amount of ponies," he suggests "so if there are potions to increase strength and endurance, are there others to make one dexterous, wiser, smarter, charismatic, and more?"
>>128032"That sounds like something we should focus on ensuring you know first, considering the possible applications," Iron theorizes, rubbing his chin "selling a temporary edge on their normal lives usually excellent. I can imagine all of the stallions seeking them in order to woo their mares." He can't help but snicker at the thought, imagining a thin, frail stallion suddenly become the horse embodiment of Chad, nailing all the mares in his vicinity from a single potion sip.
>>128036That'd make a great television commercialShe smiles back
"I suppose I have a bit to learn..."
>>128033Hue>>128037Iron nods, giving a smile back as his ears fold slightly "Of course," he replies, still somewhat sheepish at the raunchy imagination taking place, lightly blushing. "We can go with whatever you feel like learning after that, since it should be covered by the health and body-altering potions that we will distribute to the public."
>>128039"Well, we'll see what we can sell legally" she answers
>>128040Iron can't help but tilt his head slightly. "You believe there are restrictions in place?" he asks.
>>128041"Well, the city doesn't particularly like selling health potions without a medical license, and there's usually inspections for making potions that can be consumed... which is most of them. But it varies by the potion."
>>128042Iron purses his lips, not eager to go seek medical licenses for something he knows works. "...I see..." he replies before shaking his head. "So you needed a pony who would take your shifts back at your father's establishment?" he inquires. "I believe I have one that could help, but I need some help tracking her down."
The native clears his throat as he remembers Khoi's details and past history, relaying what he knows to Cauldron.
>>128043"Is this...." She turns her head, and one ear falls down
"That kirin you told me a couple days ago you were in love with, or something?"
>>128044Iron shakes his head. "Not at all," the stallion denies "she probably would not have been eager to help me do this in the long run, considering her lifestyle. This one is more eager for a stable job, considering her status as a recently freed slave that seeks to make a living here."
The native awkwardly looks away, pouting softly. "As for her, I concluded we would not work out."
>>127940>>127943>>127950Thanks for the enthusiams even though I didn't even talk about it. But sure, I might throw together an simple illusionist wizard when I have read enough of the player's handbook to feel educated.
>>128045Black Cauldron places up a hoof on Iron's neck, and pets him, softly
"Well, cooking right takes some skill. But it's still a skill that can be learned. Maybe my father could have some use for her. Depending on how things go, I might even need an assistant..."
>>128046Huzzah!
>>128047Iron glances back at Cauldron, smiling softly, leaning into her hoof. "That is good," he answers, blushing slightly at the act "she seems to be an eager, capable learner."
>>128048He pauses, looking pensive inbetween his affectionate permission to be petted. "I have no clue where she currently is, but I did tell her to meet me at The Watering Hole last night. Think you can find her?"
>>128049>>128048She smiles to him
"Good. There aren't too many young Kirin females at the Watering Hole. I
think I can."
She looks at him for a moment, then adds
"I did't know you were in the business of helping young mares get on their hooves"
>>128050Iron can't help but chuckle at the remark, glancing away as he blushed slightly. "Would you believe me if I told you only one of the potential candidates was a stallion dog-looking thing only by sex?" he asks tentatively, smiling sheepishly.
>>128053She twists her mouth and head, and an ear flops down and back up
"What? Stallion dog sex?"
>>128054Iron briefly thinks of that one diamond dog he sweettalked that one time, wondering how would that work before quickly shaking his head. "No no, what I mean is that the only one with something between their legs was a weird looking dog," he quickly corrects himself, blushing further at the word scramble mishap and the thought of how would dogs and ponies copulate.
>>128055She looking at him blankly for a moment
"Oh... Hahaha."
She blinks
"Still, it's new turn for you. To be so nice"
>>128056Iron twiddled his hooves, pouting slightly. "I can be nice when I want to," he mumbles, looking downwards sheepishly "specially when it works in our favor."
>>128057Now, she definitely laughs
"Hahahah, there we go!"
Then when she stops
"Anything else?"
>>128058Iron decides to promptly boop her snoot in retaliation. "Bully," he mock proclaims, pout still present.
The native proceeds to look downwards once more, face contorting into a thinking expression. "...there is one last mare that could help me ensure I get the best deals with almost anything," he suggests "but she seems to have high standards and has a secretive demeanor, as if she is being hunted down, considering she does not like to give a lot of information, and when she does, it is mostly related to shady subjects."
The native looks back towards Cauldron, pensive look still present. "It was the mare that came with me with the weapons, if you recall. What do you think of her?"
>>128059"
Yip Yip!" She barks at the touch, scrunching, moving back and then rubbing her snout
"She was wearing bandages, using towels of all things to hide rifles. She was wet - so were you. She seemed to be one of those pretty mares the pony stallions love to go after, and she kind of looked like she played that up for all its worth... or at least I assume she would if she weren't covered in salt water. From what you're describing it sounds like she was into some bad business, and possibly even some important pony's significant other, someone she wants to get away from. But I can't be surprised if she feels 'hunted.' There's a lot of factions that could want to 'hunt' somepony."
>>128060Iron looks down, flicking his lips from left to right as he mulls over the information. "I suppose that could be it," he surmises, considering her charm and physical attractiveness "I would wish not to be suddenly surprised to find the pony that is looking for her in one of our runs, but I suppose that is a constant risk to deal with."
The native can't help but sigh softly, feeling distanced from Sands and not be able to provide her security for the time being, as he was busy establishing the method to achieve it. "...what else, what else..." he mumbles before looking at the two fluids before looking at Cauldron. "Do you think those two would reveal something for you if you studied it?"
>>128062Iron cocks his head. "You do?" he asks, astonished. "What are they?"
>>128063She pulls up the decorated heart shaped vial with the "9" and pink liquid.
"
This is a love potion."
Then she pulls up the vial, which has another substance of a pink-reddish color.
"
This is Changeling honey. It
is love."
>>128064Iron blinks, looking back and forth between the two vials. "...I do not get their use," he replies, puzzled.
>>128065She looks at him blankly, then holds back up the elegant vial
"This one causes the drinker to become romantically infatuated with a particular subject. Usually the first member of the opposite sex they lay eyes on... though that can go wrong in several ways. Or, add a hair belonging to somepony in there, and whoever drinks the potion will fall in love with the origin of the hair."
She holds up the simpler cylindrical vial
"This right here.... well, imagine that Changelings are bees, and ponies and other creatures are... like flowers..." She closes her eyes and shudders
"Or don't, the point is that Changelings turn the positive emotions of other creatures into a jelly. That jelly, when consumed, causes the consumer to feel those same emotions. All of the experience of falling in love for the first time, so they say. It's very hard to come by, for obvious reasons. This stuff can also function kind of like a love potion, though not as reliably."
>>128066Iron's ears fold as he tilts his head, eyes widened substantially after such a revelation. "Love in a bottle?" he asks incredulously, blinking off his surprise. "That is ludicrous."
>>128070“You could say that. But those who want a good feeling can and have gone so far.”
Well, this is irritating. I wanted to play HOI4 with the EaW mod–well, not really play it on my toaster of a PC, but just load the map so I can check province names–but the launcher says it cannot access the directory and thus mods, DLCs, and settings won't load. I tried installing the mod manually by making a "mod" folder under Hearts of Iron IV in documents, putting EaW in it, and editing the .mod file to create a pathway. This did nothing. A cursory look through forums and tickets got no results, and trying to load the "old launcher" of Hydra edition to get mods to show up broke it entirely. Apparently even with the current version I cannot boot up HOI4, with the game appearing briefly in task manager using 0% CPU and then disappearing without fanfare.
I decided to do a clean reinstall. Problem is that although the game itself uninstalled from Steam, the caches/logs in my documents folder (I'm guessing this is the troublesome directory) are a different animal. I am actually able to create folders in the folder of Hearts of Iron IV and add files, but I cannot delete or even edit those nor the other folders. Folder access is denied and Windows Explorer asks me to provide administrator permission. Although I am on an administrator account hitting "Continue" tells me that I still need permission from my administrator account–which I'm currently on–to make changes and tells me to try again, which of course is ineffectual. I'm essentially soft-locked out of my own files despite being on an administrator account and I should fully be able to do whatever I'd like to those files. All permissions are allowed except for "Special permissions" which I cannot change.
Keep in mind that I bought and installed HOI4 back in 2017 which is presumably what the directory dates back to. Because I can't really play the game with any real performance I just let it sit there until recently when I updated the game. I don't think it's so much of a game issue as it is a broader software issue because I'm locked out of essential tasks. I don't think I have a virus. I don't know where else to ask this technical question except maybe /cyb/ but it bugs me. I just want an interactive map of Equestria.
>>128071Iron can't help but purse his lips disapprovingly, but nods nonetheless. "I suppose it cannot be helped," he muses with a small shake of the head before returning his thought process to the main subject. "So, to summarize, we start to deal with the resistance for the next couple of months, hopefully providing enough so you can research on the pony-altering potions. I will act as a courier alongside White Sands, the mare that came with me, while you find, meet and teach Khoi on your works." He pauses, poking his snout pensively. "Did I miss anything?"
>>128073“If that is the way you want to do it, that should work”
>>128072>>128072Aww. I’m not sure how to solve the problem. I would have thought downloading the game from steam would work. In any case, be sure to get the 1.91 Husky patchI can try to get a map >>128075Iron nods before humming softly. "Do you have another way you want to suggest?" he asks curiously.
>>128076“No... or not necessarily. Just know that depending on what is sold, creatures sometimes take interest. They don’t like it when someone competes with them, or sells something that helps their enemies.”
>>128077Iron nods understandingly. "You are correct," he promptly answers "for potion transactions, we might have to conduct them at the Watering Hole exclusively, particularly in a private room, so you can detect any would-be pursuers seeking information while I am standing in the open." He softly rubs his chin, thinking something. "If I am being followed, try to make the bartender tell me some sort of code for it, like a particular drink. That way I would know and not jeopardize our operations."
>>128079Alright, I'll try to give some kind of maps as a filler.
Here you can see Baltimare, located on the corner of a landmass with ocean to the north and east, with a neatly horseshoe shaped natural harbor that the city itself is located on. I am pleased that my guess that the city is mostly north of the river that lets out into the harbor, and that the peninsula is more inhabited than the south side of the harbor, is reflected in the map. Notice there is a narrow strip of land on the northern coast line that is not covered in forests and is inhabited, but everything south of this strip is dense wilderness including forests and marshes.
My version of Whinnysota deviates more heavily from what is in the game, and is actually based more upon a real life location than what is in EAW. For instance, the game has that whole area as grassland plains, while I have it as dense forests with more than a few lakes and hills. It would also require imagining a tributary of the large river running through