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[YouTube] The True Gift of Gifting [Embed]

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Occupied Equestria - Awakening
Anonymous
4c7c7bf
?
No.167000
167005 167012
Ambergriff wonders her way through the bog at night, looking for safety. Silver leads a heroic assault on the infiltrators before they can destroy the city. Both will have to wake soon...

Hopefully Spark's line will continue soon as well.
997 replies and 90 files omitted.
Anonymous
2280868
?
No.167352
167353
>>167350
>>167348
Amber sits down on a wooden bench-style seat nearer the back, in front of Erich and Federklied, who remain together, and across from Helder, who is trying to separate himself from the other three. Amber can see that the knights shake their heads and look over to the ferry. But they don't seem to spy the group. They don't seem to remember what they were looking for at all.

The ferry's stay at this particular stop is short, and everyone at the pier is quick to get on. Perhaps three minutes, and it moves along.
Amber Sunset
00374e7
?
No.167353
167355
>>167352
Amber smiles wearily. One more obstacle passed, and for a few minutes she can rest…. She leans forward and asks Erich in a low voice, "What's the next step?"
Silver "The Floof" Sword
a727551
?
No.167354
167357
>>167345
"Of course, but you would think I would get say in it at least. War takes two, after all. It reminds me of when I was in first War, pondering on what if we could play turnabout with changelings, make them as paranoid of us as we are of them, not just on battlefield but on homefront as well. How would changelings react if suddenly they could not trust that changeling next to them was actually changeling, or just pony in disguise?"
Anonymous
2280868
?
No.167355
167356
>>167353
"Kronburg. From there, it's a train if we're lucky, or a cart if we're not, straight to the border and to Hellquill. It's a short trip either way."

Erich looks back to the line of trees and the village along the Katerin bank of the Griffking.

"Goodbye to Katerinburg..."
Amber Sunset
00374e7
?
No.167356
167359
>>167355
Nodding, Amber looks off in the same direction. She still remembers distinctly the palace they dwelled in just a short while ago, but what other reminiscences does she have of this strange principality?
Anonymous
2280868
?
No.167357
167358
>>167354
"I've heard stories of it working like that in the occupied territories. Where even the changelings have to wonder if the pony they are looking at is a pony. I suppose that's probably how they fought each other back when that was the common thing. And the Olenians... they'd even dress up as changelings. Of course they would do that. It's definitely time they felt fear. That they were on the back hoof. That's what this war is for, isn't it?

Do you wish to make the Changelings feel fear?" He asks
Silver "The Floof" Sword
a727551
?
No.167358
167360
>>167357
"Maybe. Yes. I hope doing so will not cost us everything, but changeling leadership needs to be made to understand what happens when we are left with no other choice but war, and to fear what will happen when we do make that choice."
Anonymous
2280868
?
No.167359
167361
>>167356
Walks through the forests in Autumn. Not the bogs. The clearer ones to the east of town. Walking through the old town, through the central platz and past the rathaus. The music school in Katerin, playing to an overbearing instructor who would not abide by any mistake. Listening to a stunning performance at the grand theater in the city. Being made to sit in an uncomfortable dress outfit at the temple of Boreas in the village as a chick, with mother chiding any false move as the teacher recites the sacred text. A soldier coming into the home and taking pots; can't tell if he's a Republican or an Imperial. The same home as before, overcrowded with chicks. A charming griffin female in a salon, wearing a beige dress and holding a cigarette, giving a sultry look. That garish looking winter palace, a mimicry of pony style, that the princess had built on the hill. And De Moncree... Trusted advisor to Diazella... That first meeting with him in the library. Those scretched images he showed from the book he retrieved from a locked room in the back. That meeting in the manor house. The secret room full of art he had built in the Summer Palace. Bastard probably made it to Nova Griffonia by now... And sawing away at the viol, playing music banned by for centuries by Imperial decree in that dark, private music hall built into the ancient stone of the old temple buried in the hillside underneath the winter palace, playing to an audience of Princess Diazella, De Moncrief, Helm, Helder, Erich and others of the old group. And the music... That is what she remembers the most vividly and the most fondly. But she takes that with her.
Anonymous
2280868
?
No.167360
167379
>>167358
"Well... we need to start with Baltimare" He says, taking the magazine out of his Jenny, checking the bullets, and placing it back in.
Amber Sunset
00374e7
?
No.167361
167362
>>167359
Finally having time to think to herself, not harried by others in pursuit, these memories astound her. Do they feel strange and assumed, or completely native to herself in a way that she could not consider herself as having any different background? Regardless, this reflection makes the past couple of days make more sense. Amber is not merely a court musician, but a holder of dark and powerful secrets within a decadent and chaotic principality. The same music she learned since chickhood, which has become all she is good for, is precisely the reason she is wanted captured and probably dead. The sooner she takes her secrets with her out of the Empire, the sooner she can know a reprieve.
Anonymous
2280868
?
No.167362
167363
>>167361
That whole concept of her memories, her background... That discredited philosophical idea of an ego, a single consciousness that builds its identity around memories and experiences belonging solely to itself, known but to itself, dying with itself... What could be more lonely, more limited, and more mortal than that? No. Amber knows better. Amber knows that Will is universal, and the Universal Will underlies all reality, that individual consciousness and reason melt into one glorious, unlimited, immortal whole. What separates Amber and her company from the likes of Mother, the inquisitors, and the teacher isn't experiences or memories, but knowledge. Amber, Helder, De Moncree, Helm, Erich... See the world as it is. Past the representation and towards the thing in itself. But the others... They lack the curiosity, the openness, the desire, and perhaps the intellect to move beyond the representation. They remain caught in tradition, mores, and mere naive perception. They fear what lies beyond it, like a primitiveness's aversion to fire. Amber and the like have knowledge and will. And that is why they are special.
Amber Sunset
00374e7
?
No.167363
167364
>>167362
The backwards Empire is not ready for such concepts yet. Perhaps none of the nations of the planet are. However, this perception is inevitable and they will carry it to the farthest regions until all eventually accept the whole which is clear to so few right now.
Anonymous
2280868
?
No.167364
167365
>>167363
Perhaps they will, perhaps they won't. Perhaps those who do not will perish. They will perish anyways, the lonely egos...

The ferry moves further and further away from the Katerin shore. The Imperial shore on the right bank of the river upstream isn't necessarily infinitely better, but it's much closer to safety. The border crossing into Soldau is... what? 40 kilometers past Kronburg, if even that? Not that she's ever made the trip before. But the Reformitsen are more understanding of Amber's group and their eccentricities than the Katerintreue, who crave scapegoats, and the Imperial Inquisition, who fear all that is different.
Amber Sunset
00374e7
?
No.167365
167380
>>167364
Forty kilometers is very short by train, but a grueling trek by cart for tired old refugees. She can only hope that they will have better luck with transportation and concealment than they did within Katerinburg proper. They are much farther from the hotbed of activity that is the royal capital, but the reach of the Inquisition is long indeed and the use of her forbidden music may eventually be found out. Whatever may come, the last leg of the journey to freedom is here.

I'm falling asleep, let's continue tomorrow
Amber Sunset
00374e7
?
No.167373
167419 167436
AmberSunsetDetailed.png
>>167211
Yay, new player! Glad to have you here. I like your character concepts and they remind me of Darkest Dungeon, perhaps it was an inspiration. Also having an actually evil PC around will be fun.
>>167192
>Oof. Where would a player even meet the party then?
There's no real official "party" simply because of how stretched out this game has been (playing for literal years). The upsides of playing this game on an imageboard (being able to make a post and respond whenever you want rather than wait for other players to be online) is also a downside, because it's been a long time since multiple PCs have been on at the same time and place (i.e. a "party"). It's mostly individual players off doing their own quests and projects and occasionally meeting up. It's by no means bad, just unorthodox, but to have a party quest you need to be consistently online and hope the other members are too. Silver and I are the most active players currently so if you want to meet up we could make something work.
Here's a list of all the player characters over the course of the game (I might have missed some):
Sister Ash (kirin druid, left permanently)
Onyx (crystal pony fighter, indefinite hiatus)
Spark (unicorn sorcerer, indefinite hiatus, very sporadically online)
Silver Sword (unicorn fighter, active)
Dark Star (earth pony ranger, occasionally active)
Brie (batpony rogue, indefinite hiatus)
Iron (earth pony barbarian, occasionally active)
Swedeanon's character (forgot name sorry, unicorn wizard, left permanently)
Amber (earth pony bard, active)

>>167219
>I could probably make one
The easiest way of doing it might be using console commands in-game to adjust the world to how it would look. I would enjoy having that reference (and, unlike in medieval fantasy games, maps would be commonly available for characters to see), though it would still take several hours and it's up to you whether the effort is worth it.

>>167227
>The four princesses surrendered to Changeling Custody
F
Very early to propose this, but if the party sides with the Harmonists for the most part this might be a big end-game quest. Also is the location of Flurry Heart unknown? Might also be quest material involving her. This is all speculation btw, like you said it's perfectly possible the party might choose a different future with its own quests.

>>167237
>I meant medieval, but since you mentioned tanks and heavy artillery I thought the ponies here might have postmodern dispositions.
Equestria at the start of EaW is very similar to the show albeit with a realistic bent. Big cities are industrialized but much of the population still lives in the countryside and has traditional attitudes. Big cities, especially multicultural ones like Baltimare, will have much looser mores and seedy underbellies. Equestria's military starts out small and low-tech and has primitive tanks and airplanes. Despite this there's a strong intellectual base and military gear is improved very quickly over the course of the game. We haven't seen a lot in the way of tanks, planes and other expensive equipment in the game because 1) we're rather underleveled to deal with those and 2) it's an occupied zone and not a frontline or active military base.

In terms of military equipment, Equestrian is British, Changeling is German (so is Imperial Griffonian, don't think about it too much), Stalliongrad is Soviet, Aquilea is French, and the River Republics are Czech iirc. There's no hard-and-fast rule about having the exact same equipment that was used in our world, it's more about what's cool while fitting the setting.

>>167242
Well, Brie was a classic rogue who never shied away from cutting throats, and who also cut a deal with the Changelings to aid their infiltration in exchange for certain favors. Silver is a good pony in general but has no qualms about being a Casanova; he also is hiding the identity of a changeling from one of his friends who is being fed on. Iron is an unofficial member of a street gang and regularly helps them. Dark Star is…edgy, though fundamentally good. Even Amber, who is a wholesome farmpony who arrived a short time ago, has already gotten her hooves dirty stealing evidence from a police station and has engaged in unprotected hoofholding.

I highly recommend going to the start of the game and reading through every thread to see how the story has progressed, though it's by no means required and it would take an extremely long time to get all the way through. The various dream sequences might also be a little confusing.

Anyway, you can be as evil as you'd like and the world is your oyster as a wide-open sandbox without any of the technical limitations of sandbox games. Short of going full GTA in the streets, like the DM said, you can even be a serial killer actually a potential character concept of mine if Amber ever kicks the bucket. I'm looking forward to seeing you play here!
Silver "The Floof" Sword
a727551
?
No.167379
167404
>>167360
"Right. It is up to us to save it. I wonder if this pressure is how Element Bearers felt every time they had to stop some great evil."
Anonymous
2280868
?
No.167380
167381
>>167365
Amber does not recall the remainder of the short ferry ride, most likely for having fallen asleep. After a jolt, Amber looks to see that the ferry has stopped. To the left, Amber can see a stone landing, and a grey stone wall to the left of that. Further down, Amber sees a stairway that goes up to what must be a street, lined to its left with three story buildings so close as to merge one to another, mostly with white colored walls, though sometimes of varying colors like shades of pink and yellow, and with tall, steep red roofs. Awnings line the street, presumably for waterfront cafes. Helder, Erich, and Federklied get up, and grab their luggage.
Amber Sunset
00374e7
?
No.167381
167383
>>167380
This looks to be a charming town, perhaps more welcoming than Katerinburg. Still, Amber must take care to not let her guard down, especially given how limited time is. She makes sure her possessions are with her and follows the others.
Anonymous
2280868
?
No.167383
167384
>>167381
Amber picks up her viol to walk out of the ferry. But when Amber comes onto the landing, she sees something not surprising, but not really welcome either. A small fence, and a single griffin in green who is evidently checking passports.
Amber Sunset
00374e7
?
No.167384
167385
>>167383
She elbows Helder. "Do you know what to do?" she asks, staring at the official.
Anonymous
2280868
?
No.167385
167386
>>167384
"If they don't have our names on a list then there is no problem. Just show him your passport. But if they do... Bribe, talk out of it, or something else..."
Amber Sunset
00374e7
?
No.167386
167387
>>167385
Does Amber still have her passport?
Anonymous
2280868
?
No.167387
167388
>>167386
This basically comes down to "did Amber lose her passport while on the train?"
Amber Sunset
00374e7
?
No.167388
167389
>>167387
In that incident she did not drop anything that belonged to her, so it would stand to reason she still has it.
Anonymous
2280868
?
No.167389
167390
>>167388
Then she ought to have it.
Amber Sunset
00374e7
?
No.167390
167391 167392
>>167389
She presents her papers to the official, trying to look as unconcerned as possible.
Anonymous
2280868
?
No.167391
167393
6475733.png
>>167390
[1d20 = 9]
Anonymous
2280868
?
No.167392
>>167390
The customs agent takes Amber's passport...

But he has another paper too, which he starts to look at
Amber Sunset
00374e7
?
No.167393
167394
>>167391
Amber widens her eyes and looks between the official and the documents in his claws.
Anonymous
2280868
?
No.167394
167395
>>167393
Is she staring off into the distance, or trying to read what he is holding?
Amber Sunset
00374e7
?
No.167395
167396
>>167394
She tries to read what he's holding.
Anonymous
2280868
?
No.167396
167397
>>167395
There does indeed seem to be a list of griffins who are of interest. Whether Amber and companies' names are on that list isn't really possible to determine
Amber Sunset
00374e7
?
No.167397
167398
>>167396
Amber can never tell these days the speed at which bureaucracy moves across the Empire. She can only hope that for interregional border checks it's as slow as she remembers. But there's too much tension in the air. "It's a gorgeous day this morning, isn't it?" she remarks casually.
Anonymous
2280868
?
No.167398
167399
>>167397
And if they are using radios or telegraphs, it won't go so well.

"Yeah... huh"
The agent looks up to Amber to acknowledge the statement, before looking back down to continue to go through the list.
Amber Sunset
00374e7
?
No.167399
167400
>>167398
If there is one thing not skimped on in the budgets, it tends to be internal security….
"I wish I could linger and enjoy it, but I simply must make it to the music tutoring I am giving. Everything looks to be in order, yes?"

Does Amber have any money to give?
Anonymous
2280868
?
No.167400
167401
>>167399
Amber herself is low on money. Helder has some, and other items, like jewelry, may also have value.

Amber can also roll for diplomacy to distract the agent.
Amber Sunset
00374e7
?
No.167401
167402
>>167400
Slipping money wouldn't attract attention, but pestering Helder for said money might, and Amber is naked and doesn't seem to have any jewelry to give.

"Forgive me, I don't want to tell you how to do your job, but if you must check every single passenger we will be stuck here until noon. I have a promising pupil who must learn the intricacies of music and whose parents have a very short patience. Look at how old I am, I am not a dangerous criminal so why should I be kept here?"
[1d20+4 = (20+4) = 24]
Anonymous
2280868
?
No.167402
167403
>>167401
He blinks, holds the passport up against Amber to verify the photo, verifies the watermark, and gives the passport back to Amber, with no stamp for what is technically crossing an internal border.

"Have a nice day, sir." He says, waving along Amber.

And then Helder

And then Erich (who takes significantly longer because he misplaced his passport and had to find it)

And then Federklied (who had a questionable passport, but is moved along anyways because who really cares if it's old)

Are all moved along into the city
Amber Sunset
00374e7
?
No.167403
167405
>>167402
Thanking her lucky stars she didn't get stopped by such a mundane obstacle, Amber also idly wonders whether or not she can be lucky or glib enough to get away next time. Best not to tarry on such thoughts for too long, though, because time is of the essence.

"Do you know what times the train has?" she asks Helder. "Also, how are we going to avoid what happened last time?"
Anonymous
2280868
?
No.167404
167417
>>167379
"I don't know. They have rainbow lasers."

As if in protest against this statement, Silver hears a plane roar, swoop down, and then a loud "chug" sound as its multiple machine guns strafe a target, presumably the front side of the transit ministry.
Anonymous
2280868
?
No.167405
167406
>>167403
Helder replies,
"I do not know. The best thing to do would be to get the hell away from the police. It may be safer not to take the trains. But if we do, it's not even an hour to the border."
Amber Sunset
00374e7
?
No.167406
167407
>>167405
"We could try stowing away in the cargo cars…but I have a better idea. Do you know where we can get access to the train staff and their clothing?"
Anonymous
2280868
?
No.167407
167408
>>167406
"No? At the train station, I would presume." He says
Amber Sunset
00374e7
?
No.167408
167409
>>167407
"We had best look there. If we conceal ourselves as staff of the train, we're much less likely to be inspected by police."
Anonymous
2280868
?
No.167409
167410
>>167408
"Well... if we're unnoticed, that may work." Helder says. Erich is clearly listening as well
Amber Sunset
00374e7
?
No.167410
167411
>>167409
"Obviously there will be some staff already and they might ask some questions. We can just say we are new hires to help with a larger workload today. For those who are unconvinced, we might have to, er…incapacitate them. We'll need to do their jobs as well, punching tickets, handing out meals and whatever else they do."
Anonymous
2280868
?
No.167411
167412
>>167410
"That could work. Or to be a porter, or a coal shoveler. The greatest danger lies with the train staff noticing that we are not supposed to be there."
Amber Sunset
00374e7
?
No.167412
167413
>>167411
"It is a risk we'll have to take. We just need to act like we belong there. All we need to do is make it to the border."
Anonymous
2280868
?
No.167413
167414
>>167412
He nods

"Just to the border..."
Amber Sunset
00374e7
?
No.167414
167415
>>167413
"Making it to the station in Helquill is ideal. If we must hop off the train before then, so be it, we just need to leave the Inquisition's jurisdiction."