1571 replies and 214 files omitted.
>>172253Both Cuay and Rover lean over to look at the signature, curious as to what it looks like.
"Okay, now we just have to make your tag, and some way to display it..."
He opens the door and...
Unicorn mare
"We still don't have any confirmation this visa is even real."Deer:
"That's what it would look like! You know Rubber Stamp was working here at the time. If you don't have any records it's because you destroyed them!" >>172253>>172254"Okay, to the room off to the side..." Cuay says
>>172254>>172255"Is she going to be okay?"
Another thing of note among her possessions that I forgot to mention: a wooden necklace, carved in the likeness of a leopard.
>>172256Rover answers:
"She was picked up in a police raid to arrest other residents of her tenement. She couldn't be identified for a while and was found to have long overstayed a 6-month visa from the Twilight era. We were going to deport her, but the country she came from no longer exists, and the successor state won't take her because no one can verify she ever lived there at all." He answers
They move her into a new room with a box that hopefully, will not steal her soul.
"Alright... time for a picture."
>>172257"That's awful!
Is she going to be okay?"
Kira gets in front of the white sheet they have sitting in front of this strange box, and looks confused as to what it's supposed to do.
>>172258Rover:
"If she keeps running her mouth, no."
And...
FlashKira doesn't know what wizardry they've done, but somehow her likeness will be on a card.
"Okay, now just fill out these address details"
Kira has to do more paperwork, this time stating where she lives
"And now, we have to figure out how to display this card, so ponies will see you are
not a wild monster that somehow got into town."
>>172259Kira does have to wonder if the mystery box really
did steal her soul.
"I suppose I would use my address in Dhamaji?"
>>172260"Do you have somewhere to stay here?" He asks, and
"Now where should we put it..."
>>172261"Well no, I was hoping to acquire lodging once I had arrived, or if there was nothing available I would camp out in the wilderness outside of the city."
With a confused look, she asks, "Why can't I just carry it with me and show it to ponies I encounter?"
>>172262"I see..." He says. But to the second point, he scrunches
"When you were first encountered, you were assumed to be wildlife that snuck aboard crates of bananas" He says
>>172263"...right. That's a slight problem."
>>172264"Hence why it should be visible. Like on a collar, or an ear tag."
>>172265Kira is taken aback. "Collar? Like a
slave collar!?...what does the ear tag look like?"
>>172267“
Slave collar? What? No. Like a dog collar.”
Cauy shows Kira a sample ear tag. “Worn like an earring, but bigger.” Yes, it’s big for an ear. Essentially a dog tag size.
>>172268The noodle grimaces, and begins once again rubbing the end of her tail between her forehooves.
"...and those really are the only two options?"
>>172269“Not… necessarily. Maybe a belt, or a necklace, or a headband, if it’s visible enough.”
>>172270In a meek, quiet voice that the ponies might seem to be odd for such a normally large, intimidating creature, she squeaks out, "...i'll take a necklace thank you..."
>>172270>>172271"...or a bracelet if that's an option..."
Hey, GM, any word on if Posey was able to turn her skeleton into a wight with her Virtue-Turn-Vice trick?
Just asking because if I need to think of a new plan to eliminate Alluring. Of course, I could just go there and personally murder him, but I had planned this since before the fight, so I'll do it if I can.
Also, regardless of whether or not I level up, I'm going to make an updated, finalized version of my sheet soon.
>>172271>>172272“Or a bracelet. But sure, let’s get one made up for you… you already have a necklace, don’t you.?”
He opens the door and
Deer:
”Just give me a new visa, release me into the city at my old address. You know where I live. It’s not like you couldn’t find me…” both of her forelegs are on the desk, and she’s standing on it. She looks almost like an impala there, but with such a nice spotted coat and mane.
Black stallion: “Because you’ve already shown you’re not going to respect the visa! Or even tell the truth about who you are.”
Unicorn mare: “That’s nothing compared to what you were doing with those others.”
Deer:
”For the 90th time, I had nothing to with them, I was just living there because it was cheap!”
Unicorn mare: “
The fuck you were!”
They hurry past this scene, trying to get past it.
>>172274Kira looks down to her wooden leopard necklace.
"Yes, it's an important part of my people's culture. It's a physical representation of my passing my rite of passage."
As they leave the room and hurry past the scene unfolding before them, Kira's ears flop down. Wow, ponies sure can get angry, huh?
>>172275In fairness to the ponies, the deer tends to be the most angry of the lot.
“Huh” he takes a moment to look down at the wooden leopard. “You must be really proud of that one then.”
Then he looks back to her,
“But you still need the tag, and ideally visible.”
>>172276Kira nods quite proudly and smiles at his comment about her necklace. It's carved with a keen eye for detail, he notes.
"Well, I imagine no matter where it is, ponies would still need to actually come up to see it to know that I'm not just some wild animal...even though I'm really not one regardless...so there probably isn't much difference in that regard if it was as obnoxious as an ear tag or as subtle as a bracelet. You've been such a great help to me already, and I can't thank you enough for all you've done, it would just be nice if it wasn't presented in such a way to make me look like a pet, or...livestock."
For what it's worth, even if she looks like she could swallow a pony whole, it's likely very refreshing having to deal with someone as friendly and courteous as Kira as opposed to the deer just outside the room they're in.
>>172277Free Rover is pondering whether he is needed to go over to the deer, or if he's able to just stay here with Kira.
Cauy says
"
No one is going to look at you and think 'Oh boy, that escaped cow sure is long.' or 'Wow, the neighbor's dog is big!' No one will see you as someone's pet or livestock."
>>172278She scrunches.
"I know, but wearing an ear tag or a collar would make me feel like one. A bracelet or necklace would be nice and tasteful, and it would still be just as effective as the other options."
>>172279"Then wear it as a bracelet or necklace. I'm just trying to help you so the police can't remove you from public spaces." He says
>>172280"I know. Like I said, I appreciate everything you're doing." She sighs. "Alright...let's do this."
>>172281"Okay... but a bracelet will need to be curved. Which do you prefer?" He asks
"I'm sorry ma'am, I can't help if you look... scary to ponies. We here, we grew up with large snakes in our home. The locals, especially the ones from the city, they aren't used to monsters. They will not be so open."
>>172282"Maybe...but maybe also I can change that. Maybe if I help ponies wherever I can, ponies will see that I'm not just some monster. Maybe it will even help me convince this place's government to let my people resettle, that we're worthy of living here!"
As for the issue of the bracelet, Kira nods in agreement. "That sounds fine with me."
>>172283"Well... Good luck with that."
Kira gets three pieces of information. One is a tag that is rolled into a kind of adjustable bracelet. Another is a lamenated card, and ID. She also has a small booklet of paperwork with her.
When she goes back into the room, things are much calmer. The deer is still there, but has a muzzle on now, and is chained at the legs. It looks like a couple ponies are about to move her. The white unicorn mare turns around and
"AHHHHHH!" Jumps back
"How long has there been a giant snake in here?"
Free Rover:
"Like... just under two hours?" He answers
>>172284She waves at the white unicorn mare and smiles brightly.
"Hi. I'm Kira. I'm new here." She points to the deer. "Is she going to be okay? Where are you taking her?"
>>172285The unicorn mare is not smiling, looking a little disturbed
"Uh... Hi... heh heh...'
Now she's smiling. One of those big, teeth showing smiles the ponies are so fond of. She slowly raises a hoof, and waves it at Kira
slowly"I'm with the Baltimare Police department. She's fine. Customs is going to take her back into detention and see if they can ship her off somewhere. But I don't really deal with that."
>>172286"But, if her visa ran out, and the country she's from original no longer exists and won't take her back...where will she be sent?"
>>172287The black stallion comes closer, as does the bat pony. It's the bat pony who speaks first.
"Well, normally she'd be sent to the new country. But that doesn't really work here, because we can't prove she was ever a citizen there, and it seems like she may never have been. So then maybe she'd be forced to stay here. But we're under wartime rules, and she's not permitted without and ID, and with all of her lies there is no way we are giving her one.
So basically, she is Stateless. She's not a citizen or lawful resident of the Baltimare Governate or Equestria before that. She may or may not have been a citizen of the Principality of Lushi, but that no longer exists. And no one else would take her without an ID. So, she doesn't belong to anyone. She is a Deer of no nation. So we're going to see if maybe some Colthagians will but her, or if there is a labor camp we can send her to."
>>172288"That doesn't sound very good..." Her ears droop...but perk back up a bit as ideas begin forming in her head. "Could she acquire a new ID?"
>>172289"No, as the ID requires status. She's not eligible for any kind of immigration status in Equestria."
Free Rover adds,
"It's kind of like you"
>>172290Kira looks down at her own ID, freshly made, and the ideas in her head start taking shape.
"...what if she was reclassified as an exotic animal?"
>>172291Free Rover:
“She’s a
deer. Not an animal. And we’re not going to trust her on her own. And
no one would want to be responsible for her, except to do something with her you couldn’t do to a citizen.”
Bat pony:
“But that is kind of the idea, yes. We’re going to see who wants her for unpaid labor.”
>>172292"Well, hear me out. You have my owner as Kubana Kirafiki, right? And as the 'property' of Kubana Kirafiki, it would track that I can serve as a representative on their behalf, right?"
>>172293The black pony and the Unicorn mare look horified by this suggestion, while Cuay is confused, and the bat pony and Free Rover look concerned, but somewhat understanding. The unicorn mare says,
"You
don't want to do that.
The deer herself stares at Kira with dark brown, almost black eyes, with a general sense of fear but perhaps fascination. She breaks her view when Kira looks towards her, though maybe gaining momentary eye contact. Her form and her short, slightly fluffed up fur look... appetizing. Kira likely could not stare at her for long without it making her even hungrier.
The bat pony and Rover say,
"Ms. Kirafiki... why don't you come with me..."
They take her into the room she was in before, and close the door.
Rover:
"You want to eat her, don't you? I see how you look at her. It's alright. We're not judging. Just understand that the Deer at the park are
not free. This one is a special case. But if you want to do that we can just skip all of the paperwork and leave you two alone in the back. She already doesn't exist."
>>172294Kira has to very actively chase away any intrusive...delicious...delectable...hmm, thoughts that invade her mind. As the bat pony and Rover take her into the room and ask her this question, she looks absolutely mortified.
"W-what!? No! Nononononono! I just feel bad for her, being sold off into slavery like that for no fault of her own. I want take responsibility for her, make sure she doesn't get into trouble and keep her from being sent off to some distant labor camp to die."
>>172295“
No!” The bat pony stands up
“Let me tell you. She’s not innocent. She was just lucky to not have gotten caught with the others. And you don’t want to take responsibility for her. That means that you would be liable if she stole anything. Or for anything she did, really. You’d need to watch her constantly, like her jailer. I wouldn’t even want to fall asleep near her. And she could runaway.”
>>172296Kira is taken aback and a little scared by the bat pony's exclamation.
"...surely she can't be
that bad."
>>172297Free Rover nods
“I know having your own slave sounds neat but watching over her alone… it’s not worth it. If you want to eat her though…”
>>172298Kira's stomach growls in response, making Kira blush.
"But I'm not a monster that just eats sapient creatures off the street!"
>>172299Rover nods
“We know. That’s why you are being allowed into Baltimare.”
>>172300Kira pouts, and sinks into her coils. Looking up at Rover, she asks him, "Can we at least see what she thinks, or what she would prefer?"
>>172301“
Certainly.” Rover says.
The two ponies get up, and go back into the main room, where the deer, Cuay, the mare, and the black stallion are all standing.
The bat pony goes and stands in front of the deer
“Look at me. Looks at me. So, Ms. Kirafiki here has a proposition. She wants to legally ‘adopt you’ if you will, and basically become your guardian or owner in Baltimare. She says she wants to ‘keep you out of trouble’. Legally she could do whatever she wants with you. Now, Ms ‘Neela Pheeta,’ you don’t know her and you probably don’t even know what she is, but you have a choice. And one choice is you can go with her. And if you happen to be found too far away from her, well, that leads to your next choice. What we were intending on doing, is to find a penal colony to send you to, where you can clear out brush in a hot and humid jungle somewhere on sone continent building railways. Or maybe we can arrange for some zebras to take you, and they might make you a comfort girl somewhere. Hard to say exactly where, really. You may end up working in a hot factory. Or.”
He comes closer to her, much closer. Maybe 6 inches away. He stares into her eyes with his own, amber slit-pupil eyes, and with a voice that isn’t very loud, but certainly very full of malice, he says to her
“
Or, you can tell us your real name.”
He pulls the muzzle off, and she stares at him, scrunching up her nose. Then she turns her head to the right, and looks directly at Kira.
“I chose to go with the Nagini.”
>>172302Kira blinks. While she had hoped the deer, who supposedly goes by 'Neela Pheeta', would make that choice, she is curious: "Neela Pheeta isn't your name? Why would you give a fake name?"
>>172303She moves forward, and spreads her legs apart slightly
"
That is my name! The border guard just put down "Jivant Dogana," which was my name at birth."
>>172304Kira holds her forehooves up in an attempt to calm the deer down. "Okay, okay...well, would you like to leave now, assuming there isn't any more paperwork or procedures we need to complete first, Ms...whatever you would like to be called?"
>>172305Her eyes go wide
"Really?! Call me whatever you like, just get me out of here."
>>172306Kira smiles, and looks to the ponies in the room.
"Is there any business we need to take care of, first?"
>>172307"
Yes. More paperwork." Cuay says.
>>172308Kira is young and naive, having never grown up in a bureaucracy, and as such smiles and nods when Cuay says this and is more than willing to go with him to fill out paperwork.
>>172307>>172308>>172309The black stallion, however, has serious reservations
"Should we really let that... snake pony take her? I think the Interior Department would give us compensation for her, and the zebras certainly would."
>>172310Kira excitedly shoves her foreleg into the air.
"Oh! I can provide compensation!"
>>172311One may think the deer was diagnosed with mesothelioma
"Are you sure?" Free Rover asks.
"If you take her, she is always going to have to be fairly near you when she goes away from home, as she has no ID herself and could otherwise be arrested. You'd be liable for any crimes she commits. Now, there's not really any limits on what you could do to her, but you can't use her for illegal activity. She can't shoplift, prostitute, steal cars, or anything of that nature, without
you being responsible. I mean of course she could be arrested too, but you both could be."
Free Rover comes closer
"And you can just buy a pig."
>>172312Kira nods affirmatively.
"I am sure...why would I want to buy a pig to be my friend?"
>>172314As Kira starts looking through her sack of many treasures, she speaks to the ponies present.
"Now, I don't have any, uh, you called them 'Bits', but my mother gave me some of the valuables of our tribe we managed to squirrel away before she sent me here to ask for aid, so I hope this should suffice."
From her sack, Kira puts out some finely made, artisan crafted gold jewelry, which on inspection looks to be of excellent purity, and gives one to each of the present customs agents and the police officer. Noticing that the vet isn't present at the moment, she calls her out to also give her one, even if it's unnecessary, for all of her trouble and the fabulous job she performed during the examination. While it leaves her sack lighter, she feels satisfied that it should (hopefully) smooth the way for getting the deer out without trouble.
"My people aren't really an industrial power, we don't have any of those 'factories' that I've heard nations like yours have, but if there's one thing we do really well, it's working with gold."
>>172315Circular Cuay looks down at the gold craft, and says
"Oh no ma'am, I meant for the general fund. We can't accept personal gifts, to avoid any appearance of -"
Slowly, and gently, a hoof raised by the unicorn mare reaches Cuay's mouth and plugs it. Smiling widely, she asks
"Is there anything else we can do for you, ma'am?"
>>172316The tilting of her head to imply that she still doesn't entirely understand how this strange place works is paused and replaced with a smile at the unicorn mare's words.
"Just a couple really quick questions, honest. I wanted to know if you know of a good place to exchange or trade valuables for Bits, so I have actual currency to use, and I wanted to know who I could talk to in the government about my people's plight, maybe see if I could convince them to let us resettle here."
>>172317"Well, there are a number of places. There are gold and jewelry shops, pawnshops, and art houses, though almost everywhere will tend to want to take a commission out of the value of the art. As for resettlement, the mayor would be the one to-"
And now it is her turn to have a hoof placed in her mouth, this time by the Bat Pony
"That would be up to Govenor General Halcyon Shores"
>>172318Ponies really do seem to like to put their hooves in other ponies' mouths. What a weird culture the Equestrians have.
"Great! Where can I find him...her? I don't know what pony names are male and which are female."
>>172319The Bat Pony answers
"Unfortunately I don't think the governor would want to meet with a complete stranger, and I don't think that the idea of adding an entire foreign culture to an already unstable region would be very appealing right now."
>>172320"I have to try! My tribe is depending on me!"
>>172321"He's more likely to be receptive if, well, he knew who you were. Or what Lamias were."
>>172322"Oh! Like, doing quests for him?"
>>172323"Well, if you want to phrase it like that, I mean... yes? Showing who you are, that you are able, and you can be trusted."
"My Life had stood - a Loaded Gun -
In Corners - till a Day
The Owner passed - identified -
And carried Me away -
And now We roam in Sovreign Woods -
And now We hunt the Doe -
And every time I speak for Him
The Mountains straight reply -
And do I smile, such cordial light
Opon the Valley glow -
It is as a Vesuvian face
Had let it’s pleasure through -
And when at Night - Our good Day done -
I guard My Master’s Head -
’Tis better than the Eider Duck’s
Deep Pillow - to have shared -
To foe of His - I’m deadly foe -
None stir the second time -
On whom I lay a Yellow Eye -
Or an emphatic Thumb -
Though I than He - may longer live
He longer must - than I -
For I have but the power to kill,
Without - the power to die-..."
wistful sigh of a blackweave warmagus with nothing to kill at the moment
>>172324"I can do that! I...don't suppose you know a good place to start?"
>>172325Uh... So there's an issue. I'm not sure if I want to start on another quest for Posey, even a smaller one, before starting a larger one with multiple members
>>172327"The office of Revenue and Migration is here." He writes something down on a piece of paper.
"I Don't know if you have any skills that are useful for them, or if they do or do not want a snake pony for it - it would depend on the task, I would assume - but that's where you'd find work."
>>172328"I was a skilled hunter and tracker in my tribe, just like my mother before me. I imagine there would be many tasks that my skills would be useful in."
She smiles at all of the ponies around.
"I love you all, you have all been so helpful to me in this time of need! I'd hug you all, if you wanted."
>>172328This question is going to sound lame and munchkin-like, but:
which decision would lead to me leveling up sooner? I'll pick that option.I am fine with either, so long as the quest is fun and helps develop Posey as a character, also muh levels and treasure. Anything related to the undead, hunting dangerous monsters, or finding lost treasure/artifacts would be cool. Normal d&d stuff.
Posey does need to eliminate Alluring if she wants to keep her identity secret, although she has planned to have the reanimated Luminous take care of that for her, with the cult of Maar taking the blame for the sudden undead outbreak.
If I have to hunt down and kill Alluring myself, I request that we try to streamline it this time, as I would be a bit put off spending two-three weeks anticipating killing a single chicken.
>>172329Rover slowly raises a hoof, then Cuay
"Can you be gentle?"
>>172331scrunchyThe mini-quest is a standard journey to a haunted battlefield going through monster-infested swamp lands, to find what treasures were hidden or lost.
And yes, she does need to find Alluring
>make the government think that there is a persistent Undead problem that is actively targeting their information network, rather than just being a random one time thing that was destroyed last weekUh... Well, Posey is the grand-strategist here, and I'll leave it to her
>>172332Standard journey sounds like fun.
>>172332Kira looks genuinely excited that not just one, but
two ponies said yes. She nods rapidly, and opens her forelegs and coils for the two ponies to come in for snek hugs.
>>172332>think that there is a persistent Undead problemMaybe that's a reason to hire a professional necrologist, instead of some mercs with guns.
They're going to need ponies like Posey if they're getting rid of all of the priests. You need Turn/Rebuke Undead to purge a haunt.
>>172333As stated before, the next big quest is one that actually comes
from the military and is with at minimum the Silver character
and new snake pone>>172334Roll for HugBoth ponies are scared, but move closer to the *hopefully* gentle enough constrictor, whom they have to be aware is not merely able to break every single individual bone in their bodies, but could literally stop their hearts from circulating blood.
>>172335>not just mercenaries with gunsNyet! Rifle is fine!
>>172336Whichever is most convenient then, I guess.
>>172336Hmmm, what modifiers for hug?
checks clock
looke at skeleton
"Any minute now..."
>>172342Despite her size, and despite being effectively a giant long muscle, she is both very gentle and very snug. She's firm but not hard, is nice to squeeze, and is surprisingly warm. She flicks her tongue, and looks extremely happy.
examines chainmail
"Dress to impress, I said... I guess I could pawn this for a few bits."
>sell chainmail
>subtract the cost of chain shirt, net and bolas
>Profit this adventure: 25 gp!
>>172344Rover places a hoof on her scales
Rover is comparatively muscular and bigger, and Cuay has big wings that he attempts to keep from having unpleasant pressure applied. Both are mostly soft with medium length fur and larger rib cages. Both are young(ish) stallions.
>>172346Yay!
>>172347Her scales are smooth and well maintained. Kira giggles.
"Ponies are really soft." She looks at the ponies who initially declined. "Are you sure you don't want a hug? It's niiiiiiiiiiice!"
GM, could I get an answer for the wight thing, so we could start on the next quest this week? I don't want to be rude, but I do want to keep things moving, since this is pbp and things take a while.
>>172349I'm going to say a tentative "no," because the bones are of a paladin of the Arcturian Order, who died in defense of the faith, and the mechanism of killing the skeleton is to use good-aligned magic coming from the relic of a saint, and more specifically, the bones of a martyr who died in defense of the faith. Given that, I think the outcome would likely be a bit
different than what Posey intended.
ButPosey could be ready to pick up the auto part
>>172348"Heh heh" both Rover and Cuay are released, eventually. Hopefully with no broken bones.
Perhaps Kira wants to maybe
roll diplomacy to persuade the others?
>>172350Hmm, before the roll: is their attitude towards Kira 'Helpful' or higher, or is it lower?
>>172350Okay, I have to kill Alluring myself then.
Could I have done it the same night that Posey did the other thing?
Gonna roll Gather info, for urban tracking.
[1d20+5 = (6+5) = 11] >>172351Uh... I guess maybe at least helpful? The ones that know her less like her less.
Oh, importantly:
Helping Hooves enters through the door
"Was I called?"
>>172352Posey can't tell much, but she can understand two things:
When she decided to spend an hour picking the flesh off the griffin bones, she gave up the hot pursuit of Alluring, and
Those soldiers outside had been there a while, very likely before Posey even arrived.
>>172353Hmm...
[1d20+3 = (18+3) = 21]As for Helping Hooves...
"That you were! I have something for you, for being so nice and doing such a great job." Kira presents to her the piece of gold jewelry she had saved for the pink pony vet.