Now, on Occupied Equestria: Silver is storming the Ministry building to find a changeling bomb. Posey is making her get away from unknown hostiles after an adventure in the city. Amber is trying desperately to flee the country. All of that, and more
>>170851Some seconds, and Amber's two victims are carried off of the train from the respective front and last cars. First, the fugitive from the front car with two officers, then the brainwashed Imperial policegrif with the Hellquill captain and another officer. In an odd reversal, it's the fugitive who is gagged and his beak tied. As he is walked out, his eyes dart about in terror, with his head making jerking movements, and he whimpers. The brainwashed officer is not gagged, but his mouth is slightly open, his tounge slightly sticking out and his mouth pointed down. His eyes peer up towards the raincloud laden sky, and at the world around him in a confused, dazes, and frightened look.
A few griffins get on the train. Likely not as many as originally intended to, but this was always a secondary stop. Amber can see that this train was going to have to be allowed to leave sooner or later, as there is only one track allowing other trains to pass the station, and they would be holding up all traffic, including freight, along this line.
>>170852Amber turns away guiltily. Once the passengers are aboard, she shuts the car doors and heads to the locomotive where the engineer is hopefully still at.
>>170853The doors close, and Amber is - finally - able to move up to the front car. Amber can give the order to move out of the station, and towards her next destination - Beakstadt, just outside of Hellquill City.
Roll luck
>>170856>>170857pet pet pet pet pet pet pet pet pet pet pet petThe next leg of the journey is the longest by far in terms of miles travelled, taking more than an hour. If Amber desires, she may talk to her companions, watch the scenery, fall asleep....
>>170858As the officer wished, Amber uses the radio to report back to Griffinheim. She gives the train's name/designation first, then states "Suspects have been apprehended and are in custody. Repeat: suspects have been apprehended and in custody. Normal operations have been resumed." Then she shuts off the radio before the confused or indignant griffons at the office can get in a reply.
After this Amber would try to get some rest, no doubt entering a sleep within a sleep out of exhaustion.
>>170860The engineer protests:
“We’re not allowed to turn the radio off during normal operations.” He says
>>170861Amber calmly, though tiredly responds, "The situation has been dealt with and if anything else happens we can switch it back on right away. Today has been exhausting for me and I simply
must have some shuteye before the next station, and radio static waking me up is the last thing we all need."
>>170864The engineer says "It's been a long day," and if Amber doesn't do it, he flicks the switch on the radio off. He has no idea.
And with that, Amber is allowed a brief respite.
>>170865Hopefully the others take this time to recover as well, though Amber is too tired to check up on them.
>>170866As the locomotive is cramped and noisy, with bare steel walls, Amber likely seeks to rest elsewhere. A coack would work, but it's probably best to stay away from the passengers. There is a small room in the front car, next to the bathroom the fugative hid away in for so long, that is likely a converted bremerhaus, just like the room the prisoner was kept in. It is more or less the size of a closet, with room for a single chair. That chair is burgundy leather that is falling apart. But it's the most conformable thing Amber has sat in in a while. And the room has both a door and a window. Amber might look out the window at the primordial forest that passes by, or of the mighty griffking which so much of the path follows, or of a lone stone fortress on a hill, or across the river into Longsword, and see the burnt, sharp angled roofs that remain in a destroyed village. But most likely she closes her eyes and tries to sleep. It does not take long at all to fall asleep.
Amber is awoken to a knock on the door, and the words
"We're nearing Beakstadt."
>>170868Amber is annoyed by the disturbance, and still quite tired, but wastes no time in getting up, checking the engineer at the locomotive, and making sure the rest of the train is in order before it pulls into Beakstadt. She wonders to herself whether it would be worthwhile to disembark there and find alternative transport to Hellheim, or to stay on the train and maintain her cover.
>>170869Amber opens the door to see that it was the engineer. He runs back into the locomotive, confirming that he was not supposed to leave his post. The train is not yet to its final destination, as acts like turning the radio back on and calling in to Beakstadt Hauptbahnhof, or the passing of the baton, have yet to take place, though these follow shortly. Amber too, must announce the next stop. Federklied is the companion who stays in the forward cars, and she, though only she, is close by. Beakstadt is a little larger than Soldau, with more half-timber buildings, carts, spires from temples, and granary silos.
It is after the train comes to a stop that the engineer calls for Amber. He is conversing over the radio.
"It's Reichsbahn headquarters in Griffenheim. They are claiming someone else was scheduled for this journey."
>>170816GM, I had an idea that's not quite as whacky or game-breaking as the last couple ones, it pertains to my character's progression in the story and concerns some, so I feel like it should be brought up now.
Spoilering because OC walls of text are cringe.
I
With your approval, I would like to consider this as an option for Posey's superiors in the Dread League to communicate with her:
Since Posey has a mentor who is a Dread Necromancer (Or Wizard, if you prefer) of 8+ level, they might have the Mother Cyst feat (a popular cyst for Dread Necromancers). Evil Necromancers revile in using Necrotic Cysts to mark and control even living creatures. Posey has a Mother Cyst, but since she was (and still is) a slave to the Dread League in her short life, her master or superiors might have encysted her so that they could monitor, control, punish or destroy her. Posey, having a mother possesses a Mother Cyst (the vile black lump where her heart used to be), which is also a Necrotic Cyst.
https://srd.dndtools.org/srd/feats/noncore-featslm.html#MOTHER%20CYST
One particular spell is Necrotic Scrying:
https://srd.dndtools.org/srd/magic/spells/spells/spellslm.html#NECROTIC%20SCRYING
It's like Scrying, but it's a Necromancy spell, and it only works on creatures that the caster has marked with a Necrotic Cyst. The caster can allow the target to see or hear them if they wish.
So, with your permission, could this be Posey's way of receiving orders from her undead overlords; well as report to her mentor on a weekly/monthly basis as the Apprentice feat requires?
It would be a one-way call line, and it would also be a fun potential plot device (in my opinion) as an officer from the Society Of Bones could at any time spy on Posey and/or give her an order (which she would be compelled to follow) at their whims. The Society Of Bones path for the Dread League in EaW is based on Infiltration, and this feat+spell could help the league manipulate Posey as a spy. It even has the added benefit of being a Necromancy spell instead of a Divination spell, so it slips past wards that protect against divination.
Since Posey has a code of conduct that she cannot defy her superiors unless she surpasses them, and having the cyst in addition to her Test Subject flaw makes her additionally vulnerable to necromancy spells, you could say that she simply automatically fails any saving throw against the Scrying (which means she'd never know she's being scry'd unless her master chose to let her see/hear them).
I gave Posey the Code Of Conduct weakness (saying that she could never defy her superiors in the league unless she exceeds their powers) as a voluntary nerf and because anyone who isn't a leader in the Dread League should be an enslaved thrall (hence Posey's ambitions to grow her powers earn her emancipation), but it's not exactly relevant if her overlords aren't able to give her demands or monitor her activity. I thought this could also give Posey more consequences for failure/betrayal as they could scry her with only a lvl 2 slot, and do much worse such as:
Appear at any moment:
https://srd.dndtools.org/srd/magic/spells/spells/spellsCC.html#Door%20of%20Decay
Destroy her
https://srd.dndtools.org/srd/magic/spells/spells/spellslm.html#NECROTIC%20BURST
Detonate her:
https://srd.dndtools.org/srd/magic/spells/spells/spellslm.html#NECROTIC%20ERUPTION
Or implode her very soul:
https://srd.dndtools.org/srd/magic/spells/spells/spellslm.html#NECROTIC%20TERMINATION
I am completely okay with accepting the consequences of this if it actually happens, so don't think i'll get salty if her undead overlord railroads Posey into a quest or decides to destroy her. Posey is a slave to evil as well as a villain and therefore a tragic character that would be deserving of such a fate.
>>170798Silver hears the loud clattering of breaking and falling glass, the "thud" of bullets going through drywall, and the "cla cla cla" of Grim assault rifles, and Silver knows he has walked into another ambush.
[1d7 = 5][1d20 = 1][1d20 = 18][1d20 = 14][1d20 = 12][1d20 = 14][1d7 = 4][1d20 = 15][1d20 = 9][1d20 = 16][1d20 = 20][1d20 = 13]
>>170880>>170881>>170798The entire group falls down towards the ground to take what little cover is available.
The purple pony is wounded, and the grey pony - one of the two medics - is not merely wounded, but knocked out and bleeding out
>>170882"ДЕРЬМО! GET IN COVER!"
Silver immediately works to drag the grey pony to cover, wherever it can be found.
>>170883The area below the windows provides cover of a sort, as it cannot be seen through. There may be thick walls elsewhere. Pretty much everypony has already dropped to the floor.
>>170884Is there a place nearby that is more likely to be resistant to bullets, so they can keep the grey pony from bleeding out?
>>170887A closed door to a room, but some feet away. Perhaps 20 feet
>>170888Silver drags the grey pony towards the door.
>>170889The difficulty lies in staying below the level of the windows. The same with opening the door
>>170890Silver does his best. Hopefully his unicorn magic can help.
>>170893With his magic, Silver is able to toggle the door open. It's an office. Moslty bare, but with a desk and a mostly empty bookshelf
>>170894Silver quickly motions for the other medic to tend to him while he pulls out the Strange. Can Silver tell from what direction the ambush came?
>>170895The other medic crawls through.
Diagonally forward and to the right across the courtyard.
>>170896Can Silver use his Strange to suppress the changelings in order to get a more clear idea of where their firing position is?
>>170897He can try, with the Strange or any other weapon.
>>170898Then that is exactly what Silver does.
Just roll like I would a normal attack?
>>170899Yes, though don't expect to hit
>>170900Oh, Silver isn't worried about that. He instead brings his Strange up, and without much care for aiming...
BANGBANGBANGBANGBANGBANGBANGBANGBANGBANGBANGBANGBANGBANGBANGBANGBANGBANGBANGBANG
[1d20-10 = (1-10) = -9][1d20-10 = (2-10) = -8][1d20-10 = (8-10) = -2][1d20-10 = (7-10) = -3][1d20-10 = (11-10) = 1][1d20-10 = (16-10) = 6][1d20-10 = (16-10) = 6][1d20-10 = (1-10) = -9][1d20-10 = (17-10) = 7][1d20-10 = (14-10) = 4][1d20-10 = (14-10) = 4][1d20-10 = (16-10) = 6][1d20-10 = (4-10) = -6][1d20-10 = (4-10) = -6][1d20-10 = (11-10) = 1][1d20-10 = (3-10) = -7][1d20-10 = (12-10) = 2][1d20-10 = (8-10) = -2][1d20-10 = (6-10) = -4][1d20-10 = (3-10) = -7]...Silver dumps the entire magazine in the general area where the bullets came from, hoping to keep the changelings suppressed while he spots their positions.
>>170902The Strange has an oddly fierce sound, being one of the loudest and sharpest weapons Silver has heard in his life. It beats against his shoulder, though it handles oddly well for what is essentially a full-auto rifle cartridge machine gun the size of a shoulder-fired rifle. The bullets come out with a roar, ripping out remaining glass and tearing through the walls.
Silver can see a couple drones duck for cover, and he can see that they are on the upper floor of the cloister, to the right, near the northeast corner.
>>170903Silver quickly points out their position to the others before switching out the magazine in the Strange.
"
GET THEM, UPPER FLOOR!"
>>170904The White Pegasus and Spectral Streak quickly sneak under the cover to try to go around to flank the Changeling position. Everypony else is wounded, save for the one medic, who is presumably aiding the other, downed medic.
>>170905With the magazines changed Silver looks for movement from the changelings, getting the Strange ready to respond if they try anything.
>>170905>>170906Would Silver not be more surprised if they
didn't try anything?
Roll initiativeSilver should have advantage from his position.
[1d20 = 7]
>>170907>>170906It's probably worth mentioning that the Strange, like most guns in this Brave New World, is a select fire weapon that can be used like a regular rifle.
[1d20+4 = (12+4) = 16]>>170907Probably. But now, it's no longer an ambush. Now they can fight back.
[1d20+6 = (2+6) = 8][1d20+6 = (3+6) = 9][1d20+6 = (10+6) = 16][1d20+6 = (12+6) = 18]>>170909Silver fires a short burst from his Strange at the changeling.
>>170910Silver sees a drone, wearing what seems to be an Equestrian security uniform, but nevertheless with those strange blue bug eyes, tattered ears, jet black chitin layers, and a Grim assault rifle, peer up over the empty windowsill aiming to take a shot at Silver's group.
Silver, however, gets to him first.
CHANG CHANG CHANG CHANG. At least two shots hit
[4d8 = 20]
>>170911>>170910He pops back down. Likely not dead, but not exactly eager to continue the fight either. Silver can tell that there are more of them over there.