/vx/ - Videogames and Paranormal

Do you have any time this week, GM?

>>170990
Yes.

>>170987
Mason agrees to take Posey to the university, with the quip "It's about time you got started." The ride is as before, going onto the main road and to the city, crossing the bridge across the river, but this time turning west. The car proceeds a few blocks, before turning northward onto Marengo street. The roads are lined sometimes with three story townhomes, and sometimes with four story apartment buildings, alternating in colors of beige, rust red, and brown. While a few buildings are encased in wooden scaffolds, most are intact. Going further north, past a beige two story schoolhouse and a fire station,

Posey comes upon a few large buildings, and ultimately to a large brick building that takes up more than a block. It has with four floors in the main portion, a slanted, blue tiled roof, vaulted roof windows, bright red bricks, and in the center, a tall, blue dome. Mason parks in front of the building, and the ponies go up a flight of granite stairs to an entrance flanked by marble Dorian columns. Inside is a double staircase and hallways left and right, with marble floors with interlacing black and white patterns. On the walls are symbols like the apple and the rod of Asclepius, as well as friezes depicting ponies who must be significant figures of yesteryear, which further down the hall transform into paintings in a realist style of ponies working microscopes or holding beakers.

Ponies walk around these streets. Unicorns, mostly. Their clothes are prim, and often formal, and many wear spectacles. For Gloomy in particular this must be an unusual experience, for rarely has he seen so many living ponies, and certainly not like this.

Mason takes Posey up the stairs, and ultimately to an office where they can shut the door behind them.

>>170974
The stop at Beakstadt Hoptbahnhof is thankfully - mericifully - rather straight forward. Police come out towards the train, as does who appears to be a Reichsbahn employee, but the police stay back, and busy themselves with registering travelers and immigrants, and the Reichsbahn agent stays back, simply noting the presence of the train in the station. Beakstadt is only the penultimate stop, and far from the largest.

The real stop is coming up in Hellquill City.

>>170993
And it is the one place they have a chance of true escape in. After boarding passengers at Beakstadt and departing the station, Amber goes to Helder and asks what they should do at Hellheim. Amber has done her part, now it's up to him and his contacts.

>>170992
Very colorful and detailed exposition, as usual.

Posey exits the vehicle and thanks Mason for his service. She shuffles Gloomy along with her, levitating the excited and curious foal and trotting towards the building a bit more quickly than a normal pony might with a whirl of her cape, trying to stay out of the sun.

>rod of Asclepius
Posey winces at the healing symbol somewhat, averting her gaze as she forges as she passes.
> For Gloomy in particular this must be an unusual experience, for rarely has he seen so many living ponies, and certainly not like this.
Gloomy is not feeling so gloomy right now, as he is indeed very excited by all of the new sights "ooh-ing" and "ah-ing" as he goes. He turns his head left and right, taking in all of the new experiences, and shouting several variations of "momma look!", blissfully ignorant to the furtive and paranoid attitude of his momma.
His excitement gets the better of him, and by the time the door closes his happy giggling abruptly deteriorates into a rough coughing fit, followed by a series of pained groans, shudders and head-tossing as he weakly mutters something incoherent.
At this, Posey stops, turns to Gloomy, and holds his head to her chest with a hushed whisper, stroking his mane and cooing a faint eerie melody that seems to calm the foal down, like a lullaby. As his convulsing stops, Gloomy, looks up at Posey with a silent nod as she strokes his mane. He smiles at her through his pained grimace. His demeanor is once again a bit gloomier, but also calm, and still showing signs of his youthful excitement from earlier.
"Are you ready, my sweet little lamb?"
"Y-yes, momma."
"Do you need to stop? Take a nap? Have a snack? Go potty?"
"No momma."
"What a big, strong colt you're turning out to be. Trot along now, sweetie." Posey says, tasseling his mane as she turns and walks deeper into the building, slower this time as Gloomy weakly follows after her.

If any other ponies stared at this interaction, Posey pays them no mind, unless of course they solicit her.

>>170992
I take it that Posey already knows which room to meet the doctor?
I'm going to preemptively roll a Gather Information check for Posey to find her way there, if needed.
[1d20+4 = (15+4) = 19]

>>170996
Pretty sure that succeeded.
Posey checks with the clerk, before proceeding to the doctor's office.

>>170994
Unhelpfully, yet not entirely unsurprisingly, Helder freezes up. Helder says,

"We need - we need to get to Freieluft within the Office of the Master of Rituals... the director of art. In Hellquill City."

>>170995
>>170996
>>170997
Posey doesn't have to look far at all, as Mason guides her to an office. Going inside, it's not of a particularly large size, perhaps a little smaller than a bedroom. There is a window on the far side, though the blinds are closed and both the left and right walls, as well as every single inch of the close wall save for doorway, is covered in bookshelves. Innumerable books crowd the shelves, many with worn leather binds, or pages that stick out of the book after having clearly fallen out and being imperfectly placed back in. An Equestrian steel military helmet, with its straps off to each side, sits on top of the left shelf. Near the closed blinds of the windows, a bit to the left, is a pot with an artificial "plant" that has feathers in place of leaves. In front of that is a crowded wooden desk, with a busy mail stack piled with letters. There is a stack of papers, as well as another stapled on top of that, and a red booklet entitled "The Equestrian Medical Journal" in pristine condition on the right side of the desk. On the left and a little closer to the back is a very, very old leather-bound book, titled "Quamoon-e-Islamb, or the customs of the Moosemares of Saddle Arabia" by Jade Saffron. But this is just a sample of what lies in this room. In front of the desk is a single chair, with a ecru wool blanket piled on it, and behind the desk, another simple chair with a rain jacket.

This is the office of Junior Professor of Necromancy Diligent Debride, so says the plaque outside.