/vx/ - Videogames and Paranormal

>>175952
"I'll see you too!"

Kira would wave back, but one hoof is holding the porcelain set and the other has to be on the ground to sell the illusion that she's a pony and not in fact anything else. Instead she smiles and backs up like a pony would until she's out of sight of the door, where she then slithers like normal back to her own dwelling, porcelain set in possession.

>>175952
Amber's heart freezes as she questions what course of events are leading to her fellow staff turning on her. She stares back in total shock.

"Wha–how–I mean…that stallion, the red one, kept insinuatin' nasty things about me, I even overheard him mention to his friend how he wanted to fool around with me. I just couldn't stand it!"

>>175954
Posey nods as she watches the ghoul leave
"Just wait a moment, Agire. Try to find your bearings."

>>175955
Kira slithers back, back inside her own home, and sees Neela and Bright Dye are still talking.

"That's so terrible, all of your sheep getting out like that" Neela says to him, though even Kira could question the sincerity of that statement from the tone

>>175956
"So you try to poison him?"

>>175957
The assistant is a living Kaftar gnoll

Agire turns over, and stands up. He - it - tries to, anyways, having trouble keeping stable.

It's a few minutes, but he comes back with the cut-up carcass of a cow on a cart, parking it outside, and needing help to move it inside of the old church.

>>175958
Amber looks positively terrified. "Nuh-uh, not poison! I'd never do that. I never heard of a pony being poisoned by chili anyhow. I just wanted him to leave."

>>175959
"Okay. So you tamper with his food because he said he wanted to sleep with you?"

>>175958
>The assistant is a living Kaftar gnoll
I mixed up ghoul with gnoll.

Posey helps Agire up with her magic.

>>175960
She takes a deep breath. "Yes. I couldn't take his leering and the comments he was making about me to his friend. It was disgusting and degrading, and I had to get back at him!"

>>175958
Kira decides not to make too much of a fuss, and unless either of them calls to her, Kira goes to make the tea that was promised with the use of this beautiful porcelain tea set.

>>175961
As Posey props him up, the priest and the assistant - and Ideally, Posey's own ghoul - drag the dressed carcass into the church.

>>175962
He sighs, and his ears go back
"You can't just sabotage the food of every stallion who tells his friend he wants to sleep with you. You're a young mare. A lot of stallions are going to want to sleep with you. Some will try, and even more will think it. And they talk about mares to their friends. That's what stallions do. They talk about mares, fighting, the latest in sports... Surely you don't expect us all to talk about politics or the weather? Celestia knows both have been depressing recently. Hell, even here I think we had two stallions who had crushes on you, or they acted like it, anyways. Are you going to poison them, too? Don't answer that. Just... I think that Stallion may have been a police officer. You're lucky he wasn't Waterfront Gang, or a Soldier. You don't want to know what they do if they think you're sabotaging their food. Just..." Words fail him at this point. "You can't do that."

>>175963
And Kira slithers along. Her stomach is now fully in the process of trying to digest the goat, and she can feel it.

Neela and Bright Dye can see the porcelain set brought in, but don't comment on the oddity.

>>175964
digestion gurgles

Kira tries not to linger too much on that. Instead she has tea to make, and that is indeed what she sets out to do.

>>175965
Simple enough, put water in the tea pot, put the lid back on, turn the gas on, light it (thankfully Neela bought matches), and wait for the water to boil...

In the meantime, Kira may want to engage in conversation with her guest.

Kira is surely grateful she doesn't need to move much right now.

>>175966
Indeed! As she makes the tea, she begins to converse with her guest.

"So what was that about losing your sheep?"

>>175964
Amber droops her own ears and rubs a fetlock. She had to admit he was right. Red Scabbard may have been the worst of them, but she had noticed other stallions getting flirty towards her. Who was she to determine at what point she could inflict physical distress on them, without them getting touchy?

Inwardly, though, she was relieved she hadn't given into the temptation of more precisely explaining Red Scabbard, that he claimed he already slept with her, but she hadn't, but she did let let him kiss her (regrettably) at one point. That would undoubtably undermine her story far more and beg questions of why she let him kiss her.. Darn it, why does being honest have to be so self-destructive! She wants to be an honest mare but it's so hard.

"You're right and I'm sorry. I need to be more patient. Even if this sort of thing gets me upset, it doesn't justify that…." There is an awkward pause. "So what now?"

>>175968
Perhaps it's worth stopping and asking why the truth about your actions is so harmful.

"You're very lucky his friend there kept taunting him so he couldn't look into it any further. You could have been fired, or Mustard Trim. Wasn't he your coltfriend? You really should have. I didn't say anything to Salt Mixer. I'd say she'd understand, but she doesn't want to take any chances with police." He scrunches, and keeps his ears down

>>175967
"During the revolt, the Republicans set up camp on my farm. And they cut down several of my fences. Many of my sheep and other livestock ran off."

>>175964
Posey watches as the meat is presented to the Agire.

The ghast is probably writhing in jealously right now.

>>175969
If this is what comes of accepting shady work for money–tension with one's coltfriend, anxiety over being found out, and being forced to lie to not implicate oneself deeper–Amber wants no more of it. She's glad at least that nopony got hurt by her actions or else she'd feel really awful.

"He still is…if he got blamed I'd be devastated. Goddesses, I can't believe I didn't realize how badly this could have turned out." Amber shakes and starts to silently cry.

>>175969
"Awwwww. Did you get any of them back?"

>>175972
"I got most of them back but... some of them got run over by trucks, or eaten by alligators, or just lost... At least Manticore and Chimera don't come so far north and" he looks over at Kira's form "We don't have massive snakes..."

>>175971
"Don't do it again. My lips won't be as tight the next time." He says, and then turns around and back to his work, which is nearly over

Between the facial expressions of Scabbard, still trying to air out his mouth, and Trakr, still holding back laughter, Amber probably will never need to do it again.

>>175970
Agire runs forward and sinks his teeth into the meat, ripping pieces off and swallowing it, or trying to. He does this at a great rate of speed. Judging by the reaction, or lack thereof, from the two Kaftar, this must be completely normal.

>>175973
"I won't. Thank you, and goodnight," she mumbles out. She wipes at her eyes and heads back home.

>>175973
Posey watches wordlessly, taking notes.
Gloomy appears to be trying to get a closer look, but his little hooves tread air as Posey holds him away from the scene.

>>175974
The warm air blowing in from the sea that dominated the night has been replaced with a cold breeze from the northwest. It mixes with the moist, sea air, causing clouds to block out the light of the moon and stars and threaten more rain. It does at least keep ponies off the street, which means Amber is not harassed. Amber walks back perfectly alone.

>>175975
It eats, quickly and intensely. On the other side, the assistant tries his luck, walking up to it and ripping off a rib, eating both the meat and bone.

>>175976
Posey waits for the presumed-ghoul to finish eating before she attempts to speak to it again.
I guess I'll roll religion to see if I know any useful information
[1d20+11 = (8+11) = 19]

>>175977
It is indeed undead. But truly resurrected? No. Posey has never seen that. It's talked about a lot, sure, but not confirmed. Surely if it were possible, it would cost more than a mushroom grown out of a single squatter.

>>175978
Well, Posey has seen ghouls before, since they make up most of Magehold, so does she recognize this?
Posey would consider her endeavor successful if it resulted in a ghoul. Ghouls are contributing members of society (sometimes).

>>175979
Yes, Posey has a permutation of a ghoul before her.

>>175980
Posey nods, seemingly satisfied.
She gives Agire as long as he needs to feed to grow back his vocal cords and get his body back into an acceptable state of preservation. She scribbles some notes in her book to gauge his progress.

>>175973
"Awwwwwww..." He ears fold down. "I'm really sorry to hear that. I like sheep. They're nice and fluffy. I guess it puts into perspective how powerful trucks really are, I didn't know they could run over sheep like that."

>>175981
It's slowly rebuilding. Milyaketan slowly approaches the ghoulified Agire, saying "Agire? Agire?"

>>175982
Neela:
"You like to eat those too."

Bright Dye:
"Yeah, it can damage the truck. But the truck is heavier. So truck versus sheep, the truck wins."

>>175983
Posey watches with a neutral expression
"You can keep eating for as long as you like, but you'll never, ever, ever feel full. It's something you learn to get used to..." she says to Agire
Posey reaches down to stroke Gloomy's mane. She picks up the colt and kisses him on the neck, which at first gives him a shudder before he giggles.
"You'll also find that you can fast indefinitely, but it's not recommended, as you'll grow increasingly feral until you're able to feed, or are destroyed in the process." she continues, with a casual demeanor like a mare giving mare-care advice to one of her friends

>>175985
Agire stops, looks over towards Posey. He has his hindlegs on the ground, and both forepaws on the dressed meat. His expression suggests concern.

Milyaketan sighs
"Not such a great difference from what life was like before..."

>>175983
Kira scrunches at Neela.

"Plus sheep have all of that wool. Creatures usually forget that they don't just have it so we can harvest it, wool is actually very effective at stopping predators. All of that extra cushion and distance between the surface of the wool and the surface of the skin, a lot of predators like wild dogs will simply give up if they can't bite through. That trucks still harm the sheep even through all of that wool is...poor sheep..."

>>175987
"If it's going with any kind of speed, yeah, a truck will kill it. These are the bigger trucks that could carry cargo, mind you."

He pauses for a moment, and then raises an eyebrow
"Would wool stop you?"

>>175986
Posey shrugs
"Like I said, you get used to it."
"Eating never really brought me very much pleasure when I was alive as filly, it all always tastes like ash and urine; the life of a katane. Being dead didn't make a huge difference in the end; in fact, I would say it was liberating."
She kisses Gloomy 's neck again, in a eerily deliberate fashion
"But as you shamble across this world, you'll find things to keep writhing for, those bits of sweetness in your seemingly doomed existence." She continues, her jovial tone betraying the nihilistic message to her words
"Like my little Sundae here."

I think I forgot to mention that Gloomy's full name is Gloomy Sundae, like the song Gloomy Sunday

It's midnight for me. I have to sleep now.

>>175988
"Hmmm...well, it can. Wool is very, very slow to digest, and it just tastes like...blegh. This isn't even to mention how bulky sheep can be with a full wool coat. But, it can be done. Probably though you'd want to sheer the sheep first, that way there's no wool to get in the way and you get the wool to use to make things with."

>>175991
"So you've tried it." He says

The kettle begins to whistle.

>>175992
"Well...once, when I was younger." She goes to check if the tea is done. "I don't like to think too hard about eating other animals. That's the only real difficult part about it. Thinking about it."

>>175993
Now, to place the tea bags into the kettle, or into each cup, pour the water, let it sit for a few minutes...

Neela:
"Yeah, that goat was bigger than me, and you didn't have any difficulty."

Bright Dye:
"Why not? Why is that difficult?"

>>175994
Kira puts the tea bags into each cup, and pours water into them.

"It's like, like a conflict between our primal, carnivore instincts and our sapient minds, or maybe our souls. I'm not stupid, I know I'm a carnivore. My sense, my physical characteristics, even my digestive system, they're all built for consuming other animals, and I literally can not survive on anything else forever. But I know animals have souls too, and feelings and thoughts and everything else that comes with it. Maybe not as advanced as ours, but they still have them. They're living beings, the same as us. And if I take the time to see an animal, and see its feelings and all, see it as another living being, then...well, I can see where the herbivorous species are coming from, when they say something like 'how could you eat another living being?'"

>>175995
Now, it's a waiting game, until the tea has been absorbed into the water.

Neela, for once, is silenced. She lowers her head slightly

Bright Dye says,
"I don't think they think and feel. Well, maybe they feel. But they live in the moment. They can't reflect on it. It's kind of just how nature is, and I don't feel bad selling animals off to griffins, gnolls, and diamond dogs."

>>175996
7, 16, 14, 11, 15, 9

>>175997
"Heh, maybe...maybe it's just different, being the one to do the eating. Or it could be I'm just soft-hearted, which I know I am. The tribe would ridicule me for it if my mother wasn't head huntress."

>>175998
Neella smiles
"Don't worry, when you die, your soul will be born again into a different animal, so you can see it from our point of view. Perhaps you will be a goat. Maybe you already have been."

Bright Dye
"Wait, your mother was head huntress?"

>>175999
Neela's statement breaks Kira out of her funk, and actually gets her into giggle fits. She bends over laughing and is smiling widely with her eyes closed as she keeps "hehehe"ing until the tea is ready. There are even tears in her eyes from the laughter.

>>176000
Neela scrunches, but no one is paying attention to her

"Add some sugar to mine" Bright Dye says,

The tea is ready to be served

>>176001
Kira's gigglefit passes, and she goes over to the teacups. She adds some sugar to Bright Dye's and her own, and carries the tray with their cups and the kettle over to the stallion and the deer.

"Thank you so much, Neela, I really needed that. Not that your belief system is funny, just that the idea of being a goat is really silly." Kira takes a sip of her tea. "Anyways, she is. I've always wanted to be like her, a great huntress, going out on the savanna to bring back food for the tribe and protecting the others when the bad guys attacked."

>>175976
Amber shivers in the cold breeze but at least it helps keep herself awake. She arrived at her apartment, puts away her clothing, washes up, and prays before bed. She prays for forgiveness regarding her misdeeds and how they have led her down a trail of deceit and mischief. She also wishes that she can better understand Mustard and not inadvertently drive him away. She hopes that her waitress position will work out and help her gain the respect of the rest of the restaurant staff. She wishes for future opportunity for adventure, preferably of the kind that does not involve deceiving ponies or being subject to their unwholesome advances. Finally, she wishes for the wisdom to understand what happened the night before and what led to her cutie mark glowing.

With at least a clean, warm bed, though without the warmth of company, she settles in to sleep.

>>176002
Kira presumably sets the cups down on a coffee table in front of the couch. Kira may attempt to "sit" on the couch between Neela and Bright Dye, "sit" on a chair to the right (their left) of the couch, simply coil up across the table, or between the table and the couch.

Neela does not see the humor and does not accept the gratitude, but sits back against the couch in silenced discontent, lips tight and forelegs crossed. Bright Dye, however, moves forward across the gap between the couch and the table, and takes his cup of tea. He takes a sip.

"So how does that work? Do you... jump out and strangle animals, or do you set traps...? Are there guns?" He lets his sentences trail off but seems genuinely curious as he looks up to his host.

>>176005
Kira coils up on the other side of the table and "sits" her pony half on top of her coil, as it's what feels most comfortable to her.

"We didn't use guns, just spears and bows or just regular ol' constriction. A lot of it is ambush hunting, you know, setting up in a tree that could hold our weight and dropping down onto prey, hiding in the tall grass, setting traps. We have good lunge speed but we're not very good in a chase. Our tribe especially was known for turning opium from poppies into a concentrated oil for our arrowheads. We'd 'ploink' shoot an arrow into our target, and the oil would quickly go to work putting the animal to sleep. Then we would...you know..." ssiiippp "It makes us feel funny after. It definitely can be a risk if another predator comes across us in our stupor, so usually you need to first go to a safe place with your prey."

>>176006
"You use opiates? And bows and Spears? How advanced are you... I mean... How different is Baltimare for you? How much is new?"

>>176007
"It's all...really new. Like that radio over there, I had heard it pulls music and sound out of the air but I had never seen one before. And all of these tall buildings...I never thought of us as being all that far behind other civilizations and cultures, but after all I've seen in a relatively short time I guess we really are a step behind everyone else." sssiiip "I mean, it's not like we're some kind of backwards savages, just...we never had any kind of technology like this."

>>176008
"So..." He struggles to put the words together. "Why do you look like ponies? I mean, you're from Zebrica, right? So why are you so much like a type of pony? Why aren't you zebras, or..." He struggles to find a word. "Monsters. I mean, you're a giant snake, right? Why are you... why are you a pony?"

>>176009
Kira is...a bit speechless. Not in an angry or insulted manner, just...confused, puzzled. She gives a blank stare as the cogs in her brain turn, trying to figure out an answer for a question she has never considered before. She ends up tilting her head at the stallion, still looking as lost as she did before.

"I...I don't know. I've never really thought of that. I guess I've never seen a pony before coming here so that question never would have come up, but..." She ponders the question a bit longer. "...I really don't know. All of the stories of how we came to be, I suppose we've just been here since the world came into existence. I've never stopped to consider why we wouldn't look like the zebras we live so close to." A lightbulb turns on in her head. "...hmm, that would actually help my case, if it turns out ponies and lamias share an origin..."

>>176010
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z8wrqe72YG4&pp=ygUseW91IGNhbid0IGp1c3QgYXNrIHNvbWVvbmUgd2h5IHRoZXkncmUgd2hpdGU%3D

He then takes a sip, and asks,
"What is your case?"

>>175986
Does Agire speak?
Posey needs to confirm he has at least 3 Int left.

>>176011
"I'm going to try to convince the governor of this place to let my people in as refugees. I want to convince him that we'll be responsible and loyal citizens that are compatible with the values of this land and can contribute to the wealth and prosperity of Equestria. Or, whatever it's called now."

>>176013
Now, it's Bright Dye's turn to have a gigglefit,
"Heh. Haha. Hahaha" For a moment he pauses, seeming to be done, but then he starts laughing again
"hahaha"

>>176014
And it is indeed Kira's turn to scrunch.

"What is it?"

>>176015
He breathes out, and wipes a tear from his eye
“Oh you sweet foal. Good luck with that.”

>>176016
tilts head

"Uh...thank you?" Kira takes another sip of her tea, finishing what's in her cup. She turns to Neela next. "Are you okay, Neela? You're rather quiet."

>>176017
She is still scrunchy. For the first time she leans forward, and moves towards her cup.

"Yes?"

She takes a sip
"Hmmmm. No sugar for me, I guess"

"So are you going to get a job at a factory, or..."

>>176018
"Oh, did you want sugar? I'm sorry, you should have told me."

Kira goes to get the sugar, and comes back with it for her dear deer friend.

"Maybe someday, but I need to get the governor's attention and I'm not sure factory work will do that. The ponies at Customs told me that R&M might be in need of help, and helping there would definitely get me noticed by the governor."

>>176019
Kira slithers off, and then into the kitchen

"What do you mean for work for R&M?" A small pause "You mean like... enforcement work?"

>>176020
Sugar for her dear deer.

"I don't know. I don't really know what R&M does or what kind of help they could need. I just know it's how I can get the governor's attention."

>>176021
“Revenue and Migration. They collect taxes, especially on imported goods and alcohol, they stop smuggling, and most of all they handle immigration. Any kind of work with them is probably going to be security work strong-arming creatures, at least that’s what I’d imagine.”

>>176022
"Oh. Well, hopefully what I end up doing isn't too bad or mean." She looks over at Neela again. "Are you sure everything's alright?"

>>175986
>>176012
When Agire is finished, Posey asks both priests if they're prepared to continue the line of succession for their temple.

>>176023
She leans forward and places a cube of sugar in the tea. She starts to stir the sugar into the tea with a spoon, and scrapes against the side with a loud "nyee nyee nyee." She does not make eye contact.

"Considering how the day started, it's quite alright."

She looks over at Bright Dye and says,
"I don't have a job now. You want to know why? Because I was arrested because of some vague 'suspicion' by the police in some kind of mass round up. They had to admit that they had nothing on me and let me go after four days. So they sent me to R&M, who said I was to be deported, because the work visa I was given back in the time of Princess was just a '180 day work visa' or whatever. But they didn't just send me there. Oh no, that's too easy. Too professional. They sent a policemare there to personally convince them I was 'hiding something' or whatever. They had to make it personal. Probably because I couldn't tell them whatever it was they were trying to find out about my roommates. I don't know what they do, I just lived with them because wages are low and housing is expensive. And they were gone before the police found me as their... 'consolation prize'. Ha! They couldn't handle the dissapointment.

So Customs was going to deport me to Lushi. But - get this! - they said they couldn't do it because they 'couldn't confirm I was a Lushi national'. They said there were no records of me being there? Seriously? I am Sangee. No shit there are no records. There wouldn't be. The Lushians log down their births in the registry of the temple of Boreas. And their residents in the village registry. We didn't belong to the temple, and we never stayed long in the villages. And the Fascists probably burned these registries anyways when they invaded and looted the country after I left. The real reason, I am sure, they did not acknowledge my country - they could never call me 'Equestrian' - was that if they did, they would have to admit that this far off land of backwards non-ponies, was now another part of their Empire. And in any case, they would have to let me apply for another work visa. But no, they said I was 'Stateless'. Fair enough maybe, perhaps that's what we Sangee are, a nation with no homeland. But... They were going to send me off. Overseas, to a work camp. Or maybe sell me off to Zebras, I don't know."
She leans down, and starts to nibble on a sugar cube, each tiny bite taking an infinitesimal of the cube with it.

She soon looks back up
"Then this one came. One of the pony stallions working there wanted to show off how much of a stallion he was, and tried to handle her like you would a pet python. Soon enough, the whole office wanted to pet on her like she was some kind of mascot or something, and they came up with this fiction that she was an 'exotic animal' imported by herself, even though she had no right to a visa. And, for reasons I have yet to divine, she offered to take me as an exotic animal, and bribed them. And so they sold me to her, the same way you sold that goat. They said she could take me if she eats me. They were 'joking,' I am sure. But it wasn't a joke. They meant it. They were hoping it."
She looks down, and nibbles more on the sugar cube

"So I don't have an ID, and could get arrested if I am found away from her for too long. I can't get a job..."
She nibbles on the second, or rather, third sugar cube.

Bright Dye is visibly awkward after all of that

>>176024
I think you and I have two different interpretations about what it means to be undead that are of story consequence

>>176025
Kira blinks. You know, these sugar cubes are starting to look good. She grabs one and munches on it with a satisfying crunch.

"Mmm...uh, that's more or less what happened, yeah. I came here, she was in a verbal altercation with a police mare and a Customs pony while I was working out with the ponies there how I would be staying here in Equestria. By the time we had finished they were getting ready to send her away. I felt bad for her and made the exotic animal suggestion because, well, if it worked for me then maybe it would work for her?"

>>176026
Kira lacks the teeth to truly nibble. At best, she can cut it in half. She could also place one in her mouth and wait for it to dissolve, although the sugar cubes are dense enough that this will take a little time.

"Is this... a bad time for me to be here?" Bright Dye asks

>>176025
>interpretations about what it means to be undead that are of story consequence
Well, I sort of interpreted it to be "undead with sapient intelligence scores" that can also speak, particularly those with class levels.
I guess it depends on the mileau though.

>>176027
"No no, it's a great time to be here, actually." Kira smiles at Bright Dye. "As you can see, Neela has had some troubles in her life recently. She needs friends and companions more than ever before."

>>176029
"Are you sure you don't want the kid as a pet goat?" He asks

>>176030
"...I'm tempted, honestly. I'm not sure how well he'd do as an inside goat, though."

>>176031
Neela:
"Inside of what?"
She snickers immediately after saying this

>>176032
scrunch

Okay, that was kind good, even Kira has to admit it. It gets a snrk out of her in the middle of her scrunching.

"Ponies have bought goats from you to keep as pets, right? How have they handled them?"

>>176033
"I think so, though honestly of my animals are for meet consumption by the immigrant communities. As I was telling Ms. Pheeta here while you were out, I started off working with sheep out in New Mareland and Sicameon, wool sheep, back when the wool industry out there was strong. I got my own ranch around the unicorn range some years back, and after a business trip here I found my current spot on the edge of town, and realized there was a niche. Well it's more complicated than that - there was a lot of drama over inheritance and... - well, that's the gist of it. But yes, a couple ponies have taken goats as pets. And I've kept two of them myself, kind of. Mostly to show my foals how to raise animals. But I could tell you something about how to raise them."

Neela giggles again

>>176034
"Wow, you've been to so many different places! It would be interesting to learn a bit more about how they're raised. Maybe the information will prove useful in other applications, too."

>>176035
"Heh, it's not that many. Mostly grassy or shrub-filled hillsides for sheep to graze on. Yeah, I probably could teach you something. The goats at least don't seem to be afraid of you."

>>176036
"I hope it stays that way...goats are pretty cute. Almost as cute as Neela!"

>>176037
"Wha"
Neela's ears go back, and she blushy scrunches, and then just blushes, raising her forelegs and bending her hooves down

"She is rather cute, isn't she."

Neela manages to speak
"That must be why she didn't eat me. I looked cuter than a goat to her."

>>176038
"Hehe! Oh, just one of the reasons why." Kira bleps with her sort of hybrid snake/pony tongue. "I guess it's the opposite of that saying: she's so cute I just couldn't eat her up."

>>176039
Her ears are down, and Kira can see her porcelian white teeth in a bashful smile. As she looks at Kira, she seems genuinely touched.
"I saw how you were looking at me. From when you first saw me at Customs. You must really think I'm cute to overcome that hunger of yours."

She turns her head over towards Bright Dye and angles it down.
"Though she's far from the first to hunger for me."

>>176040
D'awwwwwwwwww. That smile really works to brighten up Kira's day. At Neela's second statement, she giggles.

"Are you saying everyone's wanted a little 'venison' for dinner?"

>>176041
With this statement, she has to place a hoof and foreleg over her face. When she manages to look at Bright Dye and Kira, she says,

"I've got quite the flavor."

>>176042
"Hehe! Almost makes me wish I could eat you!"

>>176043
She smiles to Kira, slowly closing her lips into a smile that is warmer than it is mischievous.

"Oh, I know you do. That's why I'm glad you're stuffed with goat right now. And I hope you stay stuffed for a while."

>>176045
Kira smiles warmly back at Neela, before turning to Bright Dye.

"What do you think?"

>>176046
Looking over at Neela
"I think I can sort of see where you are coming from"

And then to Kira
"But you are both very silly"

>>176048
"Hehehe! I suppose you're right about that. It probably helps us to get along so well."

The DnD 3.5 Modern Rulebook has some interesting stuff that could be used if you're interested.

>>176003
As per her conscious design, Amber arrives home in her apartment alone, for the first time since her misadventures the previous Friday night - though even that was after a visit to the club. The room is cold and dark, which is to be expected. The bed isn't necessarily comfortable, but it's far from terrible either, and certainly welcome after such a long day and so little rest. Amber quickly loses consciousness.and enters a presumed sleep.

To say that the dreams that followed were not pleasant would not be accurate. Not because they were of pleasant or even neutral character - they most assuredly were not - but because whether they could even be properly called "dreams" was questionable. Dreams are infamous for their non-sequiturs and emanative nature, with chimerical imagery and lapses in basic logic that allow the waking mind to easily distinguish reality from dream. What Amber experienced, rather, failed to attain even that level of logical consistency, for whereas dreams mimic the waking consciousness, her experiences were closer to that undiluted delirium that occurs between dreamless sleep and wakefulness, where the most absurd combinations of thoughts arrange themselves, and where pure feeling is unmediated by reason.

Whether Amber was asleep at all when she received her visions, she cannot say. All that can be said is that in that state of simultaneous consciousness and unconsciousness, visions came to Amber of a realm wholly unlike even the unwaking world. Even dreams must abide by non-contradiction, of an at least vaguely linear time, and of three-dimensional space, as even the absurdism of dreams borrows imagery from the five senses. Amber's glimpses were not so constrained.

Time flows back and forth like the ripples of a small tidal pool. Objects, ranging from the simplest of shapes to the most fantastical of chimeras seem to phase into, then out of existence. These vague analogs of known forms appear and disappear in patterns strongly reminiscent of the refractions of light as it appears against the bottom in shallow water. Objects are not alone in their evident instability, as the field of view itself melts and folds in on itself, then reverses, stops suddenly, and moves forward.

Even the sacred individuation of consciousness fails, as Amber perceives that her mind is not her own, and she shares a cacophony of alien, incomprehensible thoughts. Without matter to mark the distinction, only the one, universal reason remains, and individual consciousness merges as so many drops of water into a great sea. All memories and all foreseen futures, all thoughts and feelings are accessible and accessed. And then just as easily, it breaks apart into many.

When the sequence of events is concluded, Amber witnesses a more mature realm, where at least some images contain recognizable forms. She floats in an infinite sea of purple, green, and orange hued ether, dimly lit by green-tinted alien suns. She stays aloft with the help of a multitude of black membranous wings, and can mold the ether with the creative action of her mind. From a consciousness not her own, there is a suggestion of glee, or true happiness in this form as she molds the ether into new forms not yet seen and certainly not named.

Amber wakes up in a cold terror, evidently from bad dreams. The room is completely dark. She may reach down next to the bed to turn on the kerosene lamp.

>>176051
Amber wakes up with a start. At once, having been left trembling in an inconceivable terror, she craves to not be alone in her bed, if only out of a foalish desire for familiar comfort. She left her chance for that at the restaurant though, and quickly tries to instead understand what she underwent in her dream before its vivid points escape her. Words and even thought-forms failing her, she indeed reaches for her lamp and kicks off her covers. There is one method of expression that might prove reliable though, and she jumps to retrieve her mandolin. She hasn't practiced since Friday, but she does her best to put her racing thoughts to notes in a stream of musical consciousness.

>>176050
I'm familiar with the material, yeah. I would strongly recommend looking at this, as even the 3.5e DMG explicitly says to refer to d20 modern for anything regarding modern (even fantasy modern) settings.
I think the part that GM might find most helpful is the conversion tables that translate wealth check DCs to gold pieces, which he'll probably want to refer to when hanging out treasure and judging the appropriate amount of equipment for each character at a given level.
The rules for guns and vehicles might be worth looking at too. I didn't really bother though, because Posey, being from the Dread League, is a low-tech character and doesn't use guns because she is not proficient. D20 modern undead get archaic weapons though, so she could use her sword, now or halberd (more civilized weapons that better complement her supernatural strength and beauty). Check out automatic weapons and their AoE rules, which is something that adds to the game as it is better than treating it as a bunch of different attack rolls, for several reasons I can elaborate on if you care about my ramblings.
The classes are worth looking into it you're not a spellcaster. It's worth noting that d20 modern classes have a LOT more skillpoints than 3.5e characters on average (which is good; 3.5e characters don't have enough skill points), as d20 modern is less magic/combat focused and much more skill/mystery/social focused. Even the Mage has 6 skillpoints per level.
The d20 modern books also have tips for writing adventures in a modern setting. There's also several modules that the GM could rip off for quest ideas.
>>176024
>>176025
>>176028
Whatever the actual story consequence is, I would like to know the answer to the question, as Posey needs to report to her masters if she was able to secure the allegiance of the Kaftar temple (alongside her "friendship lesson" as she reports potentially having been able to produce a Gravetouched ghoul or similar entity through sacrament instead of spells; which is definitely an achievement that she would write home about as it is a discovery about undeath).
Posey has a charisma score to have up to six NPC contacts, and I was hoping to have an ally in the Kaftar clergy as my reward for this mini quest. If that doesn't work out, then I guess this quest is over either way.

>>176052
Amber has the distinct impression of being helpless. This is not in the ordinary way, as even a “defenseless” Amber could probably kick the jaw off of a wolf. Amber feels smaller, weaker, but paradoxically, cuter. Cute not in the way that she could expect unwanted sexual attention - Celestia knows she’s had enough of that - but rather that cuteness commensurate with smaller size and stature. Most worryingly of all, Amber feels - and her sight soon confirms - that her mandolin is nowhere near.

Amber can feel that the room is colder than her immigrant-tenement, her bed smaller, the quilt covering her thicker - and reasonably soft and cozy, may it be said - and the sounds of distant steam pipes and diesel engines replaced with the occasional sound of wind.

It takes multiple strikes to light the lamp, and Amber knows better than to allow it to tip over. When the light comes on, Amber can see that she is in a circular room
(technically a many-sided polygon) with chests, a rack of clothing, and several beds along the side, though these beds are not distinct items of furniture, but sections of an elevated protrusion of wood built into the side of the room that rings around half of the circumference of the room, and at spots has quilts placed over it. The dimensions of the room are hard to ascertain, as are Amber’s own dimensions, but certainly no more than 20 feet in radius to the far side of the wall, and likely somewhat less. The walls are made up of thin planks of grey-brown wood standing vertically, and a “ceiling” of wooden branches in a hexagon is suspended perhaps six or so feet above, with a door to the above. The walls tilt inwards, as if in a partial cone-shape. In the middle of the room is a metal stove, with a pipe extending through the center of the ceiling. There are no windows and no other sources of light.

Amber is alone.

>>176053
Okay. Soon (TM)

>>176055
She quickly forgets the terrifying aspects of her prior foray into dreamland as she is consumed by curiosity. Moreover, this place does not seem hostile, but protective and, frankly, comfortable. This room seems made to house fillies like her, and quite efficiently, so where are her roommates?

The design of the room, pointed up, intrigues her. Who would put a door six feet up and built into the ceiling, just out of reach? Just before trying to get outside, though, Amber looks into the chests which are hopefully unlocked.

>>176056
A matter of clarification: the door on the ceiling at least appears to be to a loft, attic, or some kind of space above the room, it is not the main door out of the room - or at least, it probably isn’t. There is a set of blankets hanging up that might cover a wall, but more likely cover a door or window.

Amber can discern that at least two other ponies live here, though likely more. Up against the wall is a sled with leather and wood standing upright, bigger than Amber’s new form. Amber also feels shorter than normal. The lamp is not very bright, and the stove’s presence in the center creates a sort of blind spot that the light will not reach on the other side. One of the chests is locked. Three at least are not. One contains clothing - heavy clothing, like coats and masks. Amber knows by foreknowledge that underneath these somewhat bland fur and wool coats, buried at the bottom, is a bright and colorful - and comfortable - handmade coat that is forbidden to wear outside. In another chest is blankets, either the simplest of factory-woven wool, or intricate hoof woven quilts with nothing in between. Beneath that, she does find a book. It has foreign language text, a red outline, and an image of a construction site and cartoonish figures. Presumably it is some kind of educational book. Another chest holds pots, pans, a large lamp, striker fire-lighting implements, and a first aid kit.

>>176057
hoofmade

Can Amber light and carry the large lamp? Having a portable light source would be helpful. The loft door was seen first, and is of more immediate interest. Can she reach the door from one of the beds on the wall?

>>176058
The large lamp, it must be understood, is designed with a reflective chamber along all but one side to force the light out of a single direction: forward. It is high powered, kerosene fueled, rather heavy. It will, however, fit on the sled, could be strapped to Amber’s head by a leather strap (awkwardly; it would limit her head movements and possibly hurt her neck) or could be carried from a handle in Amber’s mouth.

The loft door is probably not reachable from the bed. She can try to jump and catch the latch with her mouth, but the odds of failure are high, and the opposite side of the room isn’t necessarily comfortable to land on.

>>176059
Does it have a handle on it? What about the smaller kerosene lamp?

Anyway, she decides against a risky jump (isn't the ceiling made of branches? She could bring the whole roof down!) and instead elects to look behind the blankets covering a section of wall.

At what point do you think the party will be able to meet up or the main quest?

>>176061
That’s a great question.

I don’t know.

Amber isn’t one of them, so you know

>>176060
Yes. Both have handles.

Behind the blankets, and raised slightly above the ground, is a wooden door, angled inwards the higher up it goes, along with the shape of the walls.

>>176062
What an odd shape for a room! It's not a small room but the angled walls certainly make it feel smaller. Amber picks up the smaller lantern with her mouth and (carefully) opens the door.

>>176062
I think I'll just wait until Kira is done with her quest before I try any others then.

>>176063
Amber opens the door presumably only slightly to feel…

Cold. Extreme cold. Greater cold than Amber has ever experienced before in her life, even in the deepest of winter. Blessedly Amber is fluffier than she recalls ever being, and the wind is less aggressive than it could be. The sky is dark, and be-speckled with thousands upon thousands of bright and shining stars. Across from Amber’s position is a small hut, partially buried in the ground. Further to the right is a cone shaped building perhaps 20 feet high, and buried almost to the top with a layer of soil above it. The ground is covered in packed snow, as are the structures, except on the higher portions, which are covered in dead moss. Further away, Amber thinks she can see the tops of trees. It’s very cold outside…

>>176065
Amber hurriedly closes the door. So that's what the warm clothes are for! She puts on a bland-colored fur and wool coat, and a mask, and goes outside again. She closes the door behind her and, at a short distance, looks to see if the building she left resembles the others.

>>176066
There are also boots. Leather boots.

There seem to be multiple layers of clothing. With at least adequate clothing, Amber can stay outside and not feel cold, except perhaps in certain extremities. Going outside, Amber sees snow covered ground, distant forest, and several structures, mostly of the same construction. Looking back, Amber can see that the building she was in is another cone, buried in a foot or more of soil, with moss growing on top that has in the lower sections been covered by a layer of soil, and with a wooden top protruding out that includes a small chimney. Chimneys from other structures exude smoke, just not hers.

>>176067
Amber would take no half-measures with such frigidness. What an oddly shaped building, she thinks. She decides to go to the larger of the structures to have a look inside.

>>176068
Clarification: there is a small building across Amber, and one to the right of the structure Amber came from, though it too, is rather small. Then there are three cones, counting Amber’s.

>>176069
She goes to the small building first since it seems to be larger than the others. The other cones seem to be living spaces, though she's unsure.

>>176070
The small building is a single room, wooden on the inside, has a location to hang a lantern, a (closed) wooden window, a hole in the floor… it’s an outhouse.

>>176071
She leaves and goes to the structure that is twenty feet tall.

>>176072
Amber starts to go in, and peer inside. Soon enough, a grown, brown mare responds. She is wearing a bright, blue and yellow quilted dress.

“Kultainen. What are you doing here? Where are your parents?”

>>176073
Amber steps inside, trying to remember who this pony might be. Her dress is pretty though. "I just woke up. I don't know where they are. I think they're away."

She thinks they're on some remote farm, but then again, isn't this a remote farm of some sort? Why is everything so fuzzy?

>>176074
The fuzziness is caused by the prevalence of fur coats, although it should be said that the ponies themselves are rather fuzzy. Amber can see that the interior of this building is more or less the same as the one she woke up in. The mare kind of physically stands in her way to keep her from getting far. A small, white filly yells “Kultainen!” And rubs at incredible speed towards Amber. Before Amber can be pounced on, the mare extends a leg, and picks up the filly. Amber can see the filly is fluffy, has a black mane, and is wearing a yellow dress much like the mare. She continues moving her legs forward as if swimming, but stops after a few seconds. There is a fire lit in the stove.

Amber recognizes the mare as her neighbor.
“Are you going crazy, too?” She asks, more to herself

She leans down toward’s Amber’s level,
“Little Kultainen, your parents are probably working, or doing chores. You should be too.”

>>176075
Amber can't help but laugh at the filly's greeting. "Hi!" she replies.

Chores? What chores? "Oh, you're right, but I didn't think it was so late. What ought I be doing again?"

>>176076
“Hi” the filly replies, her legs hanging limp.

“Yes, it’s late morning, and there are things to be done. The firewood is getting low. Go to the blast and get more. And Jakala. You need to go too.”

She sets the filly down. The filly runs over to a chest, and starts to put on a fur coat.

“No.” The mare says, moving over the fully. “No, Jakala. You cannot wear the gakti outside.”

The filly looks sad, and looks up at the mare.
“But no one will see it.”
Her tail goes down, between her legs, then she sits down

“No. We’re not taking that chance.”
The filly looks up at the mare, with pleading eyes.

“No. You can’t do it. Take it off. I’ll let you wear it inside tonight, okay?”

“You promise?”

“I promise. Just wear something else outside.”

“Okay…”
The filly takes off the dress, then puts on a wool undercoat, then puts on boots, then puts on a jacket, then puts on a mask. The mare helps take a sled off the wall.

>>176077
"How is it late morning if the stars are out? Shouldn't the sun be out yet? And where's the 'blast'?" Poor Amber, or rather Kultainen, is much more confused than she ought to be.

>>176078
The mare gives Amber a genuine look of concern.
“Are you having memory loss, too?” She asks herself

Then she answers Amber’s question.
“The sun is away right now. Beaivi, who brings the sun, is away with her husband in the southern lands. She will be back with the sun in about three weeks. There will be no sun until then.”

“But that’s forever from now.” The filly protests.

“Well” looking down at the filly, the mare says. “It will go faster if you do your chores. And you better get that firewood, or you will be very cold. Go along. You don’t want to sleep tonight without a fire. You too, Kultainen.”

>>176079
"Okay…." Memory loss or not, Amber has to admit that the mare has a point. It's so cold that sleeping in the huts without a fire would be uncomfortable at best. The other filly, Jakala, looks smaller, and Amber/Kultainen also has to watch over her.

"We'll bring the firewood as quickly as can be," Amber answers. Hopefully that is indeed quick.

>>176080
"Good, go along, little fillies" the mare says. The other filly, Jakala, has brown leather or perhaps burlap visible along her sides, a ring of brown fur around her face, and white wool covering her muzzle. She wears high leather boots. Even her tail is tucked under the jacket, only coming out under the end. She goes along to the sled, and places the yoke over her shoulders, then places a bridle in her mouth. The sled isn't really meant for her and is just shy of comical in its disproportionate size, but the little filly happily pulls it out of the door, and will race ahead of Amber if she lets her. She goes right outside of the door.

Looking into the night sky, there is no moon. Amber can see that the sky in the far horizon is purple tinged in color, suggestive more of nautical twilight than a true night. On the opposite side the sky is darker, and above hangs a display Amber has never seen before. Across the sky, like festive garlands hanging in decoration, are two bands of waving blue green light, dancing across the night, and casting a slight glow upon the snow.

>>176081
Amber is amazed by the gorgeous display in the sky. She knows the name for it, "aurora borealis," but it feels like she had never witnessed it in person. But, she should have….

After a few moments of gawking, Amber races to keep up with Jakala. Best not to tarry in the cold. It's just firewood that's needed, after all.

>>176082
Jakala turns right again into an open set of land, which seems to be open tundra/plain, or possibly marsh, which is now covered in a layer of thin snow. There are a couple hills that rise a bit higher than other areas, but mostly the ground is flat. The two ponies cross a wooden bridge over a ravine that seems to have been dug out to be a bit deeper. Somewhere over towards their left, Amber sees a set of trees.

When the wind reduces in intensity, Amber can hear a sound that approximates static, with a bit of a high-pitched whining or tinnitus sound. This could be heard in the cones, but it's louder here. It's still easier to hear the wind, however.

>>176082
Jakala attempts to run ahead of Amber, as she is clearly filled with great enthusiasm. But the reality is that she is pulling the sled, it is heavy, and if Amber wishes to pull ahead, she may. The two come to a small, snow covered hill, beyond which are the tall, thin outlines of snow-crusted conifer trees in a strand that seems thinner than expected of a forest.

Jakala, with greater energy than normal runs ahead. Amber can guess that what she is trying to do is to get ahead of Amber, and turn around and stop in front of her. Because she is carrying the sled, she fails, and instead only turns herself and the sled 45 degrees of the desired 180. But she does pull ahead of Amber, and turns her head back.

“Play?”

>>176083
>>176084
"Okay, but only for a little bit. Want to ride the sled?" Amber asks.

She starts heading up one of the snow-covered hills.

>>176085
“Yes, yes!” She darts up the slope of the hill. At one point she loses traction, moving her legs in place as she moves the snow but not the sled. The sled pivots to the left, until she comes to a portion of the slope that is gentler in incline, and she moves up it. Soon enough, she is at the top, and positions the sled. She takes the bride out, gets off from under the harness, and sits at the front of the shed, waiting for Amber. She tries to move her tail side to side, though the clothing keeps it more or less in place. She looks at Amber with pink colored eyes, and a smile just visible from under the mask.

>>176086
D'awww

Amber places her front hooves on the sled, and pushes the sled to give it some momentum before jumping in behind Jakala and holding on. She laughs all the way down.

>>176087
“Wee! Ahahaha!” Jakala likewise laughs all the way down. The snow is packed well, and the slope is intense enough to allow the sled to slide down easily. But the hill is not very high at all and the ride lasts only a few seconds. Jakala tells “Again! Again!” When the sled comes to a stop at the bottom of the slope, she jumps off, and tries to place the harness on her again. The first time, she fails, starting to dart off with the harness slipping off, until she comes back and places it on again. She then puts it on correctly, turns the sled around, and drags it up the hill again. She does at least only take it up the gentler slope, avoiding slipping again.

>>176088
Amber helps her with the sled, putting her head through the harness and helping to pull on it. Best not to tire out Jakala too soon. Once they reach the top of the hill, Amber helps position and push the sled again.

>>176089
Amber doesn’t know how long it will take for Jakala to tire out, but she can suspect that when it happens, it will be sudden, without much warning, and likely timed for when there is much work left to be done. Jakala once tries to pull the sled simply by biting on the harness and pulling it backwards - with not much success. And every time, she jumps up on the sled in the front. If Amber hasn’t already gotten on, she looks back at her, and waits for her to get on and push the sled forward.

>>176090
Amber pushes and jumps onto the sled, laughing with glee as she watches the trees and snowdrifts race past. She can't remember ever having this much fun before.

>>176091
The downside is that, with the hill so small, every ride lasts only a scarce few seconds. This would work much better with a proper hill, but it isn’t clear there is one around. The sled does at least tend to keep moving even after it reaches level ground, if only by a few feet. Jakala happily gets up to do it again and again.

>>176092
Everything seems so flat around here.

"Okay, one more time, then we need to collect some firewood." Amber pulls the sled up the hill this time. She herself wishes she could ride the sled all day as well, but she's the older of the two and has to take a position of responsibility. Like the grown-ups said, if she doesn't get firewood, they all have to sleep in the cold tonight.

>>176093
Jakala lowers her head, and aims her eyes up at Amber. Her ears try to lower down, but the leather backing limits their movement.
“oh… okay…”

With a little less speed, she takes the sled up the slope, and sits at the front of the sled. She turns her head and looks to Amber, waiting for her to get on and push them both down.

>>176094
Amber pushes the sled extra hard this time for as much speed as possible before jumping on it. Once again she laughs with glee.

>>176049
“Heh heh, Ms. Pheeta, how do you like your new roommate?”
She’s a bit scrunchy

“I’ve had worse.” She answers

>>176095
“Wee!” Jakala shouts as the sled moves along. “Hehehe.” The sled moves further along the level field before coming to a start. But when it’s done, Jakala droops.

>>176097
"We can keep playing after we get the firewood. There's no sunlight so we don't have to worry about the day being short. How does that sound?" Amber reassures Jakala.

In the dim light, she strains her eyes to look for any brambles or branches that might have fallen off the fir trees.

>>176096
Neela also a cute

"... Speaking of hungry... I got rather worked up tonight."
pets Gloomy
"Why don't I take you out for pancakes when all of this is said and done? How does that sound? I hear Baltimare has some excellent diners; we should visit them before they're gone."
"[unintelligible excited child noises]"

>>176096
"And she's my first!" Kira, meanwhile, is very smiley.

>>176101
Bright Dye movies his eyes along Neela, as if examining her. Then he leans slightly forward, and looks at Kira. He would look at more of her, likely, if her snake body were not almost entirely obscured by the table. Then he says,

“You say you’re a hunter and use spears and bows… do you have those?”

>>176102
Kira nods excitedly.

"Oh yeah, let me go get them!"

Kira rushes upstairs, letting Bright Dye get a brief but still very interesting view of how Kira slithers upstairs, moving along anchor points on the steps to maintain upwards motion without sliding back down. She quickly grabs her spear and bow, and slithers back downstairs to ecstatically show off her possessions to the visitor.

>>176103
Kira slithers back into the room to catch the following exchange. Bright Dye, leaning over to his right towards Neela,

“Do you have any fawns?”

“N-no, I don’t. I haven’t had any.”

“Really? Your teats are enlarged.”

Neela giggles, adjusts herself to sit more firmly upright, and places her right hoof against her neck. Smiling, she looks over to him and asks, “why are you looking at my teats?” Leaning over towards him to tap his right foreleg with her left hoof. She continues giggling, and a few seconds later both creatures turn their attention towards Kira, staring at the spear and bow before she addresses them. Both of them seem somehow surprised to see weapons in the home, even though Neela has surely seen Kira’s bow and spear before.

>>176104
"Oh, I'm sorry to interrupt, I was just excited to show off my things, it's not very often I get to show these off to someone who doesn't already know about them."

She holds out the bow for display. If Bright Side or Neela knew anything about archery or bowmaking they could probably tell what material it is or what it's unique shape is meant for, but otherwise all they can tell is that it looks like a bow bent backwards on itself, made with a wooden core and separate materials on the back and belly. "We make our own bows for hunting. My mom showed me how to when I was younger, and I made this! It was pretty tough to learn to use at first, you need to be really strong to pull the string, but that's the idea behind it; you build the archer to fit the bow, rather than building the bow to fit the archer. Basically you wanted to build a really strong bow first, then you trained yourself to use it. That way you can get every ounce of strength out of every draw!"

Next she shows off the spear. If either Neela or Bright Dye continue to harbor thoughts in their imagination about Kira's culture being like some primitive neolithic tribespeople, they would be quite surprised by the quality and craftsponyship (or perhaps craftsnakeship) of the weapon in front of them. The broad leaf-shaped steel spear head looks honed to a fine edge, and is fastened to a studded shaft that has been balanced near perfectly. It's bigger and heavier than a javelin, but could still be thrown in a pinch if no other option was available. "There's not really any kind of special story about this spear, it's just the average kind of spear you'd see all sorts of hunters using. I haven't actually used it yet. I definitely favor the bow over spears, but it's important that us hunters have a way to defend ourselves in close quarters."

>>176098
“Okay…” she says, looking downwards in resignation. But she looks back up, turns around, and moves through the strand of trees that are just beyond the slope. Amber moves forward past this tiny strand of trees, one or two rows, and she sees that they are more or less, already there. Past the tiny number of trees that ringed the edge of what was presumably, an arboreal forest dominated by tall, narrow fir threes, Amber sees numerous acres of fallen trees all in neat rows, approximately facing Amber. Many of trees have roots visible, some are singed, and in many areas beaches and needles are severed from the trunks. There’s an island of standing trees in the distance, besides the one Amber is standing next to, and the pattern of why these exist while trees are felled elsewhere isn’t clear. A few saplings do, however, stand up, including a couple birch trees. The trees that stand are narrow and have few branches extending far from the trunk, although whether that’s how they grew and not the product of some event cannot be said. Under the trees the ground is mostly dead with dead grass, dirt, and snow, sometimes disturbed. In several areas, trees have been cut up and branches removed, with tracks all along the ground. There is a big rectangular pile of cut up wood some hundreds of feet from Amber.

Jakala is uncomfortable with the area.

>>176105
“Oh!”
Bright Dye stands up, and comes closer towards the weapons to look at them. He extends his hooves.

“So you’ve shot this bow many times?”

>>176107
If he's asking to be handed the weapons so he can take closer looks at them, Kira gladly complies. "Yes sir! I'd like to say I'm quite the shot, all thanks to Mom!"

Bluff: While he does so, a minor aside: Kira tries to see if she can sneak a peak at Neela's teats to see if she can see what Bright Dye was talking about, without Neela either noticing or believing that's what Kira is doing.

[1d20+3 = (2+3) = 5]

>>176108
Bright Dye gladly takes it.
“Neat!”

He tries to pull back the string on the bow, but has difficulty.
“Wow, this uh, strong pull.”

Secret modifier:
[1d20 = 18]

>>176108
>>176109
Neela stares at Kira

>>176109
>>176110
Oh no. Kira suspects Neela might have noticed the attempt. Better think of something fast.

She turns her attention back to Bright Dye attempting to draw back the bowstring. "May I demonstrate?"

>>176111
“Uh, yeah”
Bright Dye does not get the string all the way back. He hoofs it over to Kira

>>176112
Kira takes the bow in her hooves, and using the end of her tail draws back the bowstring. The bow bends as she draws, the material on the belly contracting while the material on the outside stretches. The act is not without effort as both Bright Dye and Neela can see the muscles in her tail flexing and tightening, but even then she makes it look easy compared to the trouble the stallion was having. She holds the draw for a couple seconds before carefully, slowly returning the bow to its normal state and offering it back to Bright Dye if he wishes to continue observing it.

"It's all a matter of practice, building yourself up to be able to handle the strength the bow demands."

>>176113
“Woah” he watches Kira pull the string back, and when offered, takes the bow back.

“What’s the furthest you’ve shot an animal from? What’s the biggest one you’ve killed? Do they like, run off wounded, or…”

>>176114
"Hmm, maybe a bit over...seven tail lengths, which is probably the maximum extent of my bow's range. It loses speed pretty quickly once it gets past a certain range. As for largest there's really no contest, it would be that giant eagle. They're as big as we are, maybe even bigger if you count their full wingspan, and heavy too. They really don't like us lamias, and they tend to attack us on sight. It's unfortunate because they're actually pretty intelligent creatures. I was out hunting about a year ago when this big old eagle came swooping out of nowhere, diving at me from above, then slashing at me with its claws and pecking at me with its beak. It was honestly a pretty close call, but I managed to bring it down and carry it back to town. Most normal animals though don't tend to give you too much trouble, and a well placed shot is usually enough to bring them down in one. If not, though, then that's when you need to track."

>>176115
“You get attacked by eagles?!” He is genuinely surprised. “And tracking. What does that involve? Do you just follow a blood trail?”

>>176116
Kira nods to the first question before continuing on with the second. "Well following a blood trail is part of it, but there are actually all sorts of clues that animals leave behind. It could be as simple a hoof or paw prints in the dirt, broken sticks and trampled grass, sometimes you find a tree that a certain animal has been scratching themselves on or has been marking or even sharpening their claws on in the case of predators. And then you have things like urine or dung which can also be good indicators of an animal's presence even if it can be pretty gross, and predators sometimes leave carcasses behind when they're hunting. You've also gotta make use of all of your different sense, if you're only bothered with looking for signs of animals and you're not keeping your ears open to the sounds around you or smelling the air for clues, then you're putting yourself at a disadvantage."

>>176117
He nods,

“So if tracking down and killing animals is… well kind of your job, why did you not want to eat the goat earlier?” After a pause, “was it too small?”

>>176118
Kira blushes, and rubs the back of her pony head with a hoof. "...small creatures like that have their own defense mechanism: being too cute. I mean, he was just this tiny little nugget of a goat, and with a name like Nippy I just...I honestly couldn't. And then Hopper...I'll be honest, even with how big he was if I hadn't blocked it out in my mind before he had the chance to bombard me with cuteness, I don't think I could have done so with him either. You're way too good at raising cute animals."

>>176119
“Heh heh, thank you.” He smiles. Then the smile fades. “Though I suppose you swallowed him all the same…”

Neela shakes her head
“She has the body of a Nagini. Even the instincts of a Nagini. But her spirit is something else. Something weaker.”

>>176120
Kira continues to blush as she looks away, ears folding down. "Yeah..."

She turns then to Neela, tilting her head. "I mean...probably true, but also ouch."

>>176106
https://youtu.be/KZZKzJTGI9E

Amber stares at the sight for a minute. Trees fall in a forest all the time, but never this many. It's impossible for her to know how this possibly could have happened. It looks like some sort of giant had stomped over so many trees, and for some reason cut and stacked some of it up. But why were some burnt? Jakala is not the only uncomfortable pony as this looks highly disturbing.

She considers leaving Jakala behind, but doesn't completely trust her to not move and thinks better of it. In the dim light she carefully steps over the fallen logs and makes her way to the island of standing trees, making sure the smaller filly is right behind her.

>>176121
Neela nods.

Bright Dye turns to her and asks, “Nagini?”

“Yes, the children of the Naga. They are monsters with the chimerical bodies of ponies fused with those of giant snakes. This is the only one I’ve seen. She has the killer instincts, and the strength of a python, but also that false, benign facade of a pony.”

“But why do you say ‘children of the Naga’? I haven’t heard every Griffonian legend before but, I don’t think I’ve heard that one.”

“I mean…” she looks over at Kira. “She’s quite a specimen isn’t she? I didn’t think I’d be… well, sold to one, or even see one myself. But here we are.”

>>176123
"So that's why you keep calling me a Nagini." Kira raises an eyebrow. "But then, what's the Naga? Is the Naga the same as a Nagini? Is there a difference?"

>>176124
“It’s just a term from a children’s story. Don’t put too much stock in it. It just means that you’re… well… how do I say this? A bit child-like. Uh, ‘young’ is the charitable way to say it.”

>>176126
"I guess so. I mean, I'm 23 years old, that's definitely far from being an elder. I'd never heard of Nagas or Naginis before meeting you, though."

>>176127
“You probably wouldn’t have. It’s just a word that’s used taken from a children’s fable. Just know that not everyone is completely unfamiliar with lamias and what they are.”

>>176128
"Is that why you've been so friendly, nice, and helpful with me, Neela?"

>>176129
Neela is silent for several seconds, clearly unsure of what to say
“Sure, let’s go with that.”

thring
Bright Dye lets the string go on the bow and it snaps back.

>>176130
Kira cringes as soon as she hears the sound.

"Please don't do that, you can damage the bow by loosing it without an arrow."

>>176131
“What?” He looks back to her. “How is that?”

>>176132
"When an arrow is loosed, the energy of the bow string is transferred to the arrow, but without it all of that energy goes back into the bow itself. It puts a lot of strain on the bow and can cause it to crack if done too much."

>>176133
“Huh… okay then… alright, I won’t do that…”
He places it down next to the loveseat

>>176135
"Awww..." Kira's ears fold down. "I didn't mean to be rude, it's just...that bow is really precious to me." She also says, more quietly, "...plus it takes all sorts of different materials to make one and then days to build it and then months more for it to actually dry..."

>>176122
Jakala proceeds, still pulling the sled. She is not so fast as before, and Amber may pull ahead if Desiree. Much if that is because navigating around the downed trees is difficul, but clearly she lacks enthusiasm to be there. It’s a little journey down a kind of valley through the downed trees, past the chopped and cut up trees in the center, and towards the strand of still standing trees.

Jakala
“My mom says it was the Stallos. Coming in and ripping up trees. You know they will grab you and eat you? I think it’s just as well that they tore up the trees. It means they can’t hide in them. I think I’ve seen them before. Moving in the night.” She looks around cautiously.

>>176136
“Ah, yeah, I see… that makes sense. I wasn’t trying to damage it. I didn’t know.” He answers

>>176137
Amber doesn't pull ahead, lest she lose sight of her companion. She does wish she told Jakala to leave the sled behind before they moved forward.

"What are the Stallos? Why are they tearing up the trees? Why are we living so close to them if they're dangerous?" Amber asks. Though this is spoken aloud, it's more of thinking out loud since she doubts the little filly knows the answers. She hopes there are none of them in that stand of trees.

"Gloomy, did I ever tell you the story of how Gnolls first came to be? It's..." whispers
Gloomy 's eyes widen in incredulity.
"Really?"
"So the story goes. It might even be why the Society cared about courting the Kaftars."

>>176138
Kira smiles at the stallion. "It's okay, I know. Maybe if you wanted I could try making you your own bow someday. I don't know if you'd ever use it, but I imagine it would make for something nice to hang on the wall."

>>176139
“Giants. They look sort of like ponies kind of but big. And strong. And white. They’ll eat you…” she looks up and around, and lowers herself closer to the ground, almost crawling.

>>176141
“Oh no, I don’t think I could be making bows. Or should be. I’m sure it’s a whole art form to make bows in itself. And I don’t really have much of a use for them. I don’t have to hunt. There are occasional predators, to be sure that harm and harass the animals. But the biggest monsters won’t go this close to the city, or at least I haven’t seen them. And if I did, I wouldn’t try to fight them myself.

>>176143
"It does take a lot of time to learn, but that's why I suggested that I make you one as a gift, someday." At hearing about predators and monsters, however, Kira's ears perk up. "What kinds of predators and monsters?"

>>176141
>>176143
>>176144
I misread that…

>>176144
Bright Dye is, and has been staring at Kira’s body since he put down the bow. Or more accurately, at her snake body. Before, when Kira was sitting down he was too, with a coffee table between them. This is possibly the first time he’s had a chance to really take a look at her under good light, as every time before she’s been facing him, or in dim light, or partly obscured. Now he stares at her long tail, partly coiled and for a 4 foot long section, visibly very distended. When Kira says her last words, he breaks out of the trance and looks back up to her eyes.

“Oh. Uh. Oh.” He smiles widely with that toothy smile. “Oh you don’t need to do that for me, heh… yeah, we have coyotes. Sometimes dire wolves will come this far north. And alligators, though if you stay away from the waterways those are not an issue. Same with the river serpents. They won’t attack ponies, at least supposedly they won’t attack ponies, but if a sheep swims in the river it might go under. No, really coyotes are the r worst if they break in. Also there are panthers, though you don’t see that many around here. But even worse are massive rocs, chimera, and hydras, though they are almost never that close to the city.”

>>176024
>>176053
I'm going to take the initiative to roll a Diplomacy check to improve Agire's attitude towards Posey, exhausting all available modifiers.
[1d20+14 = (10+14) = 24]

I'm going to go ahead and dump my shitty speech that was meant to accompany my diplomacy roll, because I'm bored and want to spur some dialogue.
Surely, the vaguely Muslim-coded starving hyena will not be offended by this baseless (based on d&d lore) mockery of his people's religion and history:

"Do you know the story ponies tell how Gnolls came to be? I'm sure you Kaftars have your own story, but ponies have our own, although I can't vouch for how truthful this one is... Long, long ago, before the three tribes were united, mighty and fearsome... Angel.. descended upon this plane from the void beyond the circle of creation, it's eyes filled fire as it passed judgement on this world for its sins. The Angel and wrought havoc on this world and its ponies for their decadent lives. The Angel, so mighty, carved a path of total destruction, and a lot of ponies and other creatures died, but in its wake, hyenas fed on the remains of the countless dead. As the Angel finished its tour of the world, finally content with punishing the ponies for their hubris, it only then looked behind itself and noticed the hyenas it had fed kneeling in its glory, the first Gnolls, who no longer scavenging animals, but brilliant and cunning creatures reborn by the grace of their lord. The Gnolls were fanatics, howling prayers for the glory of their lord, even though the Angel had offered them nothing in return. They were fearsome warriors, arming themselves with flails and battle-axes as they went on to conquer all surrounding territories and slaughter all in their path, devouring their victims, and killing off fauna faster than they could eat them. To the ponies, it was just wasteful violence, but to the Gnolls, it was the gospel of their lord, for they rid the world of weakness and punished the creatures of this world for their peaceful and decadent lives, and from the mountains of corpses a new world could be born. So devoted were the Gnolls, that the Angel gave them many blessings. Gnolls priests acquired magic and cast fourth spells in its name. Monsters from beyond the void would descend on their enemies, and even deceased Gnolls would rise from the grave to fight again. The priesthood of the Gnolls was so mighty that with their potent magic they could make the skeletons of their victims rise after stripping away their flesh, and ponies fled in terror as their reanimated siblings and parents faced them in Gnoll raids..."
"Agire, the Society sought your friendship, not just for your skills as a Necromancer, but for the strength of your people, for our kind recognize the role of the Gnolls as warriors of Armageddon, creatures of faith. These are dark times, the world locked in precarious stalemates and ceasefires that will last only as long as is convenient for the powers that be; the world of violence that we dream of might not be so far away... Agire, I heard it from your brother Sevberk that in your grave you were waiting for the rebirth of the world; and so I awoke you to tell you that that time draws near. I came to this neighborhood because I believe in you, and I believe in your people and the role you'll play in the reshaping of this world; and so I pled to your lord to bring you back to lead your temple..."
"So, tell me, Agire, will you join with the Society Of Bones again? You died once for your choices, but in the Society we believe that the bonds of friendship need not end in death. You may fight with us once more, or you may shun us and be left in peace. I'll even put you back in that coffin of yours if you wish. The choice is yours."

>>176146
It's likely that, as a farmer/rancher, Bright Dye has seen a fair number of snakes while dealing with his livestock, and it's likely he's seen corn snakes with scale patterns similar to Kira's, but even still her scales simply look exotic, with how smooth and metallic her golden yellow scales they look reflecting the light, contrasted with the black and red diamond patterns going all the way down the back of her tail. Her whiter underbelly looks smooth as well, but it's actually quite rough to provide traction while slithering on various surfaces.

Kira looks quite interested hearing about the various creatures that have harassed his herds and flocks, some of which like alligators and serpents she's familiar with and others like coyotes she's not. She looks particular interested when she hears panthers. But, when he mentions one monster in particular, Bright Dye sees the lamia freeze up, her face looking pale and mortified. She's scared, for the first time that either him or Neela has seen.

"R...rocs? There are rocs here?"

>>176142
Jakala's description stirs no memories in Amber's mind, and she is just as perplexed about what she's talking about. Does she mean bears? Amber had never seen a bear in person before and wasn't sure where her conceptions of them came from. Why would they clear an entire section of forest which is what they live in?

"Then let us stay quiet," she advises. "I want to know a little more about this place, and then head back." Despite trying to sound calm, she is uneasy about the Stallos. They had been here not long ago, and if they were willing to work in this darkness then the dim light would not do much to protect the fillies.

>>176148
Soon

>>176149
He answers
"Oh yeah. Well, not here. They don't come close to the city. But I mean in the region more generally, yes. Really the mountains, more so. They will carry off sheep and will even attack dragons. They can be a nuisance in many places, yes."

>>176150
Jakala whispers "Okay..." and looks up above the nearby low hills for any shapes. The sky is brighter, and it is clearly twilight now, rather than true night. Many of the stars are no longer visible, and the bands of green light have faded against the blue and purple background of the sky.

>>176151
Amber should be getting close to the stand of trees, but she doesn't rush, both for the sake of stealth and not to tire poor Jakala out. Can she make out anything among them?

>>176152
Amber can indeed see that there is damage to the limbs, with many needles missing, branches missing, and in general with much of the tree besides the bare trunk sheered off. The strand is not thick.

>>176153
Amber gets closer to examine more closely what sheered the trees. Are there any clawmarks on the trees? Are there any creatures hiding in the stand? Perhaps an object of any variety?

>>176154
There are some cuts, though likely not claws. Hard to say. No clear signs of wildlife. Some evidence of burning. Branches are broken or sheered off.

>>176151
Kira visibly shrinks down into her coils.

"...meep..."

>>176155
Doesn't seem like bears. Amber wonders what could simultaneously burn and physically take down a tree. As tempting as it is to gather the ready-made firewood here, she decides against staying in the open any longer.

"Let's go back now," Amber says, retracing the path they took from the edge. She eyes the pile of hewn lumber in the distance.

>>176156
Bright Dye looks over at this odd display.
"What is it?"

>>176157
"Okay." Jakala says with greater enthusiasm. She turns around in place, at one time directly turning back and getting caught by the sled, then moving away from the sled, and slowly inching it around until she's going down the hill into the little valley where the pile of chopped wood is, about halfway between the two strands of standing trees.

>>176158
Amber follows close to Jakala as they approach the pile of chopped wood. Although not a woodworker she looks to see how cleanly they have been cut compared to the felled lumber everywhere else.

What sort of creatures would leave this here? she wonders.

>>176159
The wood is chopped, cut, and split along natural lines. The cuts that exist are clean and straight. The pieces are all of a similar size, or rather, two sizes, one being small and for branches, the other made from tree trunks.

>>176160
That is certainly not firewood, but intended to be used for building! Amber leads Jakala to cover in the forest at the edge of the clearing.

"We need to collect firewood and go back to tell the others," she directs.