1777 replies and 51 files omitted.
>>176588Rusted. Older model. This appears to have been a breast plate.
>>176587"Plenty" She says, smugly
>>176589>RustedHmm, probably nonmagical.
Do the stallions respond?
>>176589Kira continues to giggle.
"Do you think that means I'll be at a disadvantage here with the males? No teats, no rump...I'm pretty strong though, I've got that going for me."
>>176590[1d20 = 3]>>176591She nods affirmatively
"Mhmmm. And they don't like strength. It scares them."
>>176586Sure
I don't remember what happened five years ago, but let's go with it >>176590No. They don't know she is there.
>>176593Posey walks right by them and heads towards the quarry.
>>176592"Awwww. But that's like my whole thing...well, that and being sneaky. I guess it doesn't change much from my previous mate situation, but still."
>>176592pet pet petWe could also just say that the search roll was for both of them since they're just across the hall from each other, if I remember right, and move onto the laboratories. It's up to you.
>>176596Roll Search>>176595"Mhmmm. Of course that's not your biggest issue. Your biggest issue will be your... well, lack of a rump. That, and pony bucks barely like does as it is. I can't imagine many would want... well, a snake."
>>176594Looking in, she can see that it is maybe 30 or so feet deep, perhaps two acres in size with some lower and higher portions, and there are a pair of gasoline powered pumps pumping out the tiny remnants of water in the lowest sections. On the more raised portions, there are three little work stations with covers. One is empty and has paper fragments. One has a few assorted items and a stallion examining them. One has what appears to be fragments of mummified pony remains and two pony stallions examining them. There is also what seems to be a hole leading into a subterranean area.
>>176598"Hmm, not unlike home." Posey says quietly
She walks into the hole, carrying Gloomy behind her.
>>176598>>176599Wait, are there stairs leading into this hole?
>>176599>>176598Okay, change of plans, this isn't a stealth mission, so I shouldn't be treating it like one.
"How do you do, gentlemen?" Posey says, in her sing-song voice
Posey appears to be looking past them at the remains they're examining
>>176599>>176600The hole is not one at ground level going down, although I suppose one of those exists somewhere. The hole is what is functionally, but not in design, a doorway. A horizonal entrance to the subterranean level from the quarry walls. There is a ramp leading into the quarry.
>>176601Which set of gentlemen? I assume the two in the quarry?
>>176602>I assume the two in the quarry?The ones examining the mummified remains
>>176603One stallion is a brown unicorn stallion in a semi fancy vest covered up by an overcoat. The other is a blue unicorn stallion, who is wearing something closer to a rain jacket.
The brown stallion closes his eyes
"Sweet Celestia,
another one?"
He has a loud "I'm done with it" sigh, and then,
"
Can I help you?"
>>176604Posey's first order of business is to charm both stallions with her gaze
DC 19 Will
"It's a pleasure to meet you, gentlemen. I am Rosey Ring, certified necrologist. I have been called here to investigate traces of residual dark magic on this site. I will be doing a tour of magical hotspots in the area. If either of you have encountered anything paranormal on these parts, I would appreciate it you could help me pinpoint the location." Posey says
She glances at the remains
"Equine remains... Well-preserved, but seemingly improperly buried. It looks like it was as I thought.."
>>176605The brown stallion closes his eyes and shakes his head, as if hit with a strong light. The blue stallion simply stares at Posey
"There are no paranormal anythings here nor anywhere. Whatever magic was here has dissipated. There are no crystals to hold it. No living beings..."
He looks over to the remains
"Yes. Equine remains. I'm not sure what else you expected. The fact that you are here tells me that you know
exactly what this place is, why there would be remains here, and why they are not buried. And you came here dressed up in that ridiculous outfit. By Celestia, you look like you're an actor about to perform in some kind of play set in the ancient era. I'm going to guess that you're with that 'Silver Sword'. That you're one of the mercenaries who were hired by Glass Horizons to clear this place. That, or you're one of his marefriends, who came by because you thought you could steal some artifacts, like he did. Well I'll tell you. There are no more artifacts, and there is certainly nothing 'paranormal' here or anywhere."
>>176606>And you came here dressed up in that ridiculous outfit.Posey is a bit offended by that
"I'll have you know that chain shirt is standard issue for ponies who need to deal with biting zombies. Besides, it matches my cape."
>I'm going to guess that you're with that 'Silver Sword'Posey's face grows suspicious. This name sounds like a paladin's
"... Who?"
>because you thought you could steal some artifacts"Wha? No, never..."
Bluff
[1d20+14 = (15+14) = 29]>there is certainly nothing 'paranormal' here or anywhere"That's what ponies always say..."
>>176606>there is certainly nothing 'paranormal' here or anywhere"If that's really the case, then I guess this shouldn't take very long. I'm doing this as a matter of public service, afterall.. Pardon me, gentlemen." Posey says
"Come along, Gloomy." Posey says, as she proceeds further into the site
>>176598Kira scratches her chin.
"Well...there was that one stallion at Customs, Free Rover. He seemed nice."
>>176608Posey looks for a way underground, not really worried about her own safety (she'd just throw herself into the pit normally), but a way to less-precariously levitate her child down.
>>176611There's some kind of misunderstanding about the geography of the site.
The quarry has a ramp leading down into it. Three of the little awnings, including the one where Posey went to the two stallions and spoke to them, are inside of the quarry. They are in the bottom of the pit, or technically, on a slightly higher level than the flooded lowest portion. They are not at ground level. They are on the floor of the quarry. Posey necessarily would have had to have gone to the floor of the quarry in order to interact with them. That's the only way that scene could have happened. There is no jumping down or levitating down or going anywhere down to enter the subterranean level from where Posey would have encountered this pair of stallions. There are a different pair of stallions at ground level in a tent, but Posey walked past them.
>>176610Lowering her ears
"Uh huh. What. You want him for a mate, or something?"
>>176612Posey looks around, searching for a way deeper into the underground
"Say... This supposed Silver Sword, what did he look like?"
>>176612Rubbing the end of her tail between her hooves, Kira responds, "Well, it wasn't my initial intention when I came here, but...maybe? I dunno, it feels a bit early to be saying that, I mean we literally had only just met, but maybe if we meet up more often and we actually get to know each other then it's something that might be nice to do."
>>176614Neela walks over towards the couch and lays down on it, letting her forelegs hang off of it
“Get to know each other? Ha, if you feel like it just go for it. And if you two don’t work then just go your separate ways. It’s not like you’re going to be living with him.”
>>176607>>176608“This is an archeological site. You can’t go in there!”
>>176613Is she actually asking them?
>>176615Maybe I should have treated this as a stealth mission afterall...
>Is she actually asking them?Yes, she asks them.
>“This is an archeological site. You can’t go in there!”"I'm a licensed practitioner. Besides, can you really say with certainty that there's no residual malice in this ground? Time and time again ponies did up sites without having them excised first, and then they pay the price..."
Posey decides to punctuate this by using her Unseen Servant SLA (no visible components), to rattle the table that the undead hand is sitting on, and cause the limb to writhe slightly.
"I can sense that my services are dearly needed here." She says, closing her eyes and pointing her horn to the sky, as if reading ambient psychometric resonance.
Bluff
[1d20+14 = (2+14) = 16] >>176616Shid, I should have taken 10.
>>176615Kira tilts her head at her deer friend. "Really? That's all there is to it? No courtship or anything?"
>>176618Tilting her ears down.
“Do you want courtship? It’s not like you’re getting married to him.”
>>176619Kira blushes, and continues rubbing the end of her tail between her hooves. "Well, no, we've only met the once and...I dunno, I don't know how these kinds of things work over here."
>>176620She looks away.
“It’s so weird here. They let ponies chose who they marry.” She tilts her head
“Is there a buck you’re supposed to marry back home? Are you afraid he’ll figure out you’re not a virgin?”
She lowers her head and in a hushed tone says
“Or were you already married…”
>>176621Kira gets especially blushy at the second question.
"No, no marriage...or 'bucks'..." and, more quietly, "...or mating..." Then, back to her normal volume. "There
was one male our families arranged a meeting for, but it didn't work out."
>>176623Kira lets go of her tail to wave her hooves in front of her body. "What!? Oh nononono, of course I didn't. We just really didn't mesh at all and it would have been a bad pairing. He's alright and I wish him the best, but he just didn't really get me and I didn't get him."
>>176624“It’s okay, I wasn’t going to tell anyone if you did. You can tell me if you did.” She tilts her head and leans forward, looking at Kira. “I won’t tell anyone. I wasn’t sure if you lamias killed or ate your mates or after mating or… actually, do you do that, and you two just didn’t, you know, mate? We Sangee don’t kill our mates. The ponies definitely don’t. I mean, I did stab a buck once. But he didn’t die. Unfortunately.”
Her eyes go wide and both ears shoot up. Then she sits upright on the couch.
“Wait. You’re still a virgin?!?!”
>>176626"No, we aren't like spiders or mantises. It's, well...I imagine it's a lot like with other species, but I don't know for sure. I do know for certain that we don't kill or eat our mates, that would be...whew, there is no stomach big enough for that. Well, maybe one of the jungle lamias or a sea lamia has the stomach for it, but even then still no. I'm curious about that story about you stabbing a buck, though."
At Neela's absolute shock, Kira confirms her worst fears by nodding. "Still a virgin."
>>176627“How are you a virgin?
gasp. We need to fix that. There must be
some pony or… other creature out there who would want you, and not just thing you’re some gross or scary reptile.” A pause. “I don’t think there are any other lamias here. I certainly don’t want to meet one of those ‘jungle lamias’. Maybe I can give you some pointers on how to get a mate.” She pauses again. “Well… maybe you can just be a maiden forever.”
>>176628"That would be disappointing, to say the least. I know mom wants to be a grandma someday." She looks at Neela with big ol' pleading lamia eyes. "Can you please give me some pointers on getting a mate?"
>>176629“Sure ponies have their own courtship rituals. It’s kind of weird actually. The pony buck is supposed to try to sleep with you, and you’re supposed to turn them down and play hard to get or something, annd generally pretend like you don’t want to even though you also have to let them know you do want them because otherwise they’ll lose interest. And you’re supposed to act all shy and timid and whatever. I think it’s because their courtship is also how they select a mate for marriage, instead of just being normal and have their partners selected by their parents. Honestly the key is to just try to look attractive to them and if they want to and if you want to then do it.”
Posey should probably find the owner.
I'm going to take a page out of the Chaosium book and roll a flat luck check to see if Posey would have been smart enough to find any information concerning the land owner's name or appearance before coming here.
[1d20 = 6]
>>176631I guess not.
I guess I'll have Posey slowly back away and move back towards the tents.
>>176585"Can't you check on him?" Amber asks worriedly, stressed from everything else that has happened earlier.
"Well, if it makes you feel better, sure."
Father walks over towards the stallion, having to go back to catch up with him.
"Kuhlo? Kuhlo? Hello? Just checking to see if you are alright."
The stallion stops, though he still sways back and forth. He slowly turns his head, covered in the puffy jacket, back towards father. Amber can see his golden eyes.
"memelle mbe'..." He mutters
"Kuhlo?" Father repeats
"Do you hear the spirits? Haha. Can you hear them around us? They are here. I heard from my Seesteinen Kevät today. She will walk among us. And the sun will light up the sky, pulled by the Seraph. Convergence is upon us. I will be with my Seesteinen Kevät. Mblele mbem..."
The stallion turns his body in the direction his head now faces, and he starts walking in a different direction than he was before. Father moves out of the way while the stallion continues walking.
>>176630Kira would write this down if she had anything to write with, but she doesn't, and then again what Neela tells her is almost enough to get her head to spin.
"That sounds confusing. You're supposed to pretend you don't want them but you actually do? Why not just say yes? It sounds like it would be infuriating if every female I wanted to court tried to make it as hard as possible, I mean it's hard enough as is especially when you're 'weird' like me. I guess I can act all shy and timid...what do pony males find attractive? And what are they called, are they called bucks or is it something else? I don't wanna screw up and call them something weird."
>>176636"I know right? I guess trying to play hard to get is supposed to make you desirable... somehow... But I think that if you want to have sex with them then just have sex with them, and if you don't, then don't. Of course they say that is 'slutty', or something. Ponies like... well, look at what the pony mares who get attention do. Well groomed manes, petite figure, big butts..." Her eyes go wide
"What
are male ponies called?"
>>176637Kira shrugs.
"We don't really have separate names for males and females. To us lamias are just either, well, males or females." She scratches her chin with a hoof. "Okay, well groomed mane I can do...not so much petite figure and big butt. Also those seem to contradict each other, how can you be petite while also having a big butt? Why do ponies have to make this so confusing..."
>>176638Neela breathes in, then breathes back out.
"Yeah, I can see why you are a virgin. And now that most of your dating pool is ponies, you're not going to do any better. It's bad enough that you're a big, scary, pony-eating monster. But worse... How would a pony even have sex with you? Do you even want a pony?"